Walking with binoculars.

In time, will I be saying, everything's alright?
In time, will it be OK for the life I have lived?

In time, will I look back in anger?
In time, will I still find that fire, that hunger?

In time, will I be found faithful?
In time, will my mind still see Jesus, and my heart, heaven?

In time, will I still be a child whom my mother is proud of?
In time, will I be a father whom the mother of my children take pride in?

In time, will I have nothing to say to my father?
In time, will I be found homeless under a bridge?

In time, will I still have the love to cook?
In time, will there be people I love left to cook for?

In time, will I find a love that'll never die?
In time, will my wrinkling hands be held by a lover of my youth?

In time, will there be little ones right by my side?
In time, will the little ones push me aside?

In time, will I still laugh at life with friends at a café?
In time, will I still find friends who will meet over coffee?

In time, when everything is taken away, will I still claim You as my father?
In time, God, will you say, child, it's OK, come hang with me for eternity?

In time, I wonder.
Oh, I wonder.

Hoop Dreams: #1 The kicks maketh da man.

It’s gotta be da shoes.
I picked up basketball when I was 15. That was when Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls started winning NBA titles. No matter what your skill level was at, you believed in the redeeming powers of Nike Air. Especially when it’s found in Air Jordans. But I couldn't afford one and just wore whatever hand-me-downs my elder brother would leave me with. Needless to say, I wasn't very good as a result, and also, there were plenty of asses to be kicked.

So I started an A.J. fund by way of a part-time gig at McDonald's Centrepoint, manning the counter. One day, I was finally able to buy my first pair of Air Jordans. It was a good day. Except I wasn't very good at buying the right size shoes then due to the fact that I was going through my double growth spurt. It was one size too big and that slowed my first step to like, I don't know, reverse bullet-time speeds or something.

I have a little history with bball kicks. Off the top of my head, I must have bought more than 20 pairs of basketball shoes so far. Easily. Each pair would last a little under a year of intensive use. Anyway, Queensway Shopping Centre's the only place to go if you know what’s good for you. And like Mars Blackmon would say, “It’s gotta be the shoes.”

Oh, after getting that first pair of A.J.s, the only ass that got kicked was mine.