i remember Lemon Heads

i remember Star Wars and little girls and their hours of
ms.mary mack
mack
mack
i remember black knobs the toes polished to a luster to rival the sun

i remember Nigga Knockin and beat-boxin'
Kangols and UTFO
i remember when hoes had pimps and playas were real and played by the rules
iremember when jewels were three or four finger rings and
foiled teeth

i remember hide-n-go-get-it and bomb pops
truth dare or double dare and whoopin's for cuttin' cousins hair with garden shears found in an alley
crushes on Latoya and Teresa
bike rides across the city
the sounds of Cameo Maze
the devout praise to a god who wouldn't help with the bills or Mama's tears

i remember Space Ghost and Thundar and Jabber Jaws
i remember Dodgeball- on and off the wall-
football- in and out of the street

i remember Sammy Terry and Jay's Hot Stuff and black cherry Kool-Aid and Band Aids for life-threatening gashes afraid Mama was gon' beat some asses

i remember when a day was a journey
a night an adventure
a year an eternity
i remember reminding me
and Mama
that when i got grown
wouldn't nobody tell me what to do cause
i'd be the Boss of the whole world and
though that reminder got these lips smacked more than a few times
i continued to remind us because i meant it

i awoke this morning and i remember thinking
"what happened to the perfect life i remember?"