The Weather

Sometimes the weather takes me back to the days of crazy summers With Aunt Blanche telling me to run and play the numbers I'm tryna make it to the park to satisfy your hunger For the DJ cuttin' up "Let's Dance" or "Funky Drummer" Those gorilla-sized speakers was taller than five feet, huss The roof by the basketball courts, that's where my seat was Where powerlines were full of pigeons or fly sneakers That died a miserable death hanging high in the heat, but I wouldn't change a thing if I could What made me is everything: The bad, the ugly, the good It's understood that South Philly was a marvel, I'd never be one to argue The cracks in the pavement, front steps made of marble The smell of Pine-Sol, my grandmother kept 'em clean, y'all The vestibule's a section of floor behind the screen door Runners over the shag carpet, I'm not feeling Wood paneling on the walls up to the drop ceiling All the furniture draped in thick transparent layers of vinyl All the chairs, the sofa, the record player kept Mahalia spinning Minnie be grinning knowin' I done spent a day of penny pinching and sinning See her in the kitchen cooking fish or chicken depending on what day it is If I'm staying there, then, yeah, that's just the way it is If she say it is, in Minnie crib, the time froze After sundown, you keep them curtains and the blinds closed Watch how far back the La-Z-Boy recline goes Peppermints in the Lazy Susan, never mind those TV on whether or not somebody watching it The floor model was broke, portable on top of it The last bastion of hope to document the era Was Kodacolor imagery and memories put together Throw the keys down to Keisha, tell her, "Slide up" Box full of her possessions said, "This side up" Last night her baby father came home highed up Tight, talkin' 'bout the way his money all tied up Shades covering her eyes, what? We gon' ride, yup Homie in for a surprise, I done went from when we played Halfball, stickball, dodgeball, and kickball From ten in the morning 'til somebody got pissed off Hollerin' 'bout, "Alright, it's over, I ain't fuckin' with y'all" Fiends on the corner always preparing for liftoff Grown people used to get dressed to come and sit Cross-legged on they relatives' steps We all chips off the block, the sips off the pop We passed 'round like a hit from a spliff, you take two and pass it down Herd immunity, the definition of community The only neighbor that never knocked is opportunity Them old heads be shootin' craps and droppin' jewelry In high tops sneakers and slacks, but it's a eulogy Twice a month, cocaine prices up People get they wigs peeled shakin' them dices up I heard it's some weak brothers claiming they nice as us When it's time for a show of force, the price is what? Innocence is lost over crime, we was all before our primes Some was married to the game, then divorced it over time Faded pictures in a frame helped to form a frame of mind Into a train of thought capable of stoppin' on a dime