Dr. Tom Grassano

Hood Kids

Hood Kids

In my last entry, I shared about reaching our cities. I now share the words of Mimi Webb, a teenager from a tough, low-income neighborhood who shares from her heart the cry of many youth in the inner city in her poem, Hood Kids:

Hood kids but good kids

not bad kids, just neighborhood kids

watch mom shoot up and dad shoot bullets

and combat the words that scream I’m useless

I’m not

just hot

and mad at dad who split and mom who took him back

even though he split her lip the third time

I watch from the sidelines and grow full of hate

from parents’ guidelines

and you, pastor, push me faster to hate

taking our crumbs to fill your already full plate

your frock is stained

you mock the name of He who commissioned

cuz you’re more concerned with titles and positions

than the mission to save me

don’t forget the babies; don’t be so lazy

cuz I need you greatly

it’s not about parking spots and who pays a lot

but who gives [of themselves] a lot and who prays a lot

for me, the lost sheep

but nobody’s looked for me

don’t you know God made the Good Book for me?

but I need direction, some protection, much affection, not rejection

I . . . NEED . . . YOU

man of God, woman of God

Be of God

and keep your eyes peeled for real

we’re crying and dying but still trying

though momma ignores us and daddy abuses us

I’m sure that God still wants to use us

when momma doesn’t hug us and daddy slugs us

I’m confident that God still loves us

cuz I’m a hood kid, but a good kid

not a bad kid, just misunderstood kid

and I need your help before it’s too late

and I walk the same path that my parents made

look at us behind the chain linked fence

pain wrenched kids, such tainted kids

who were struck but never fainted kids

we live hellish lives but can be saintly kids

if you just try . . . TRY!

until then we’ll continue to die, continue to cry

the hood kids that no one really cares about

it’s so obvious that no one really cares . . .

___________________________

“Jesus saw the city, and He wept over it.”

(Luke 19:41