(The names in this particular poem have been changed to protect the guilty.)
Back, back in the day there was a young man, called Little Kevin, who lived in the hood.
No father, but plenty of sisters and brothers so he did things that could have been miss-understood.
For protection, he joined a gang.
To fit in, he started to speak slang.
Kicked out of school because, he liked to bang.
Out late at night is where, he liked to hang.
And for money, well he be began to slang.
Because robbery and murder were not his thang.
Nor were they in his blood,
See, my man Little Kevin was just a common, everyday, DC, street thug.
By 16 he was the man and by 18 he was the leader by natural selection.
Had a baby on the way because he refused to use protection.
He was still living with his mother when he had his second kid.
That was when he got popped and sent up the river to serve a 10-year bid.
That first night Little Kevin caught hell in the cell he was in.
He went from being the man to being someone’s girl-friend.
Brutally ganged raped, ass-salted, violated, modern slavery, was what he faced.
He was forced to follow Prison Rules if he wanted to one day walk out of that place.
There were many rules he had to follow but I will only highlight three.
The first rule was, Little Kevin had to sit down, no standing while he peed.
This might not sound like a lot but stay with me if you can.
Sitting down to pee sends a psychological message that you are not a man.
The next rule was easy to follow while serving time.
He had no possessions because Little Kevin’s prison lover told him “Boy, what’s yours is mine!”
Everything Little Kevin owned belonged to his man.
His food, his cloths, and even his life were in another man’s hands.
The next rule is the reason why I am here with my tongue wagging.
For the next ten years, Little Kevin was forced to walk around prison with his pants sagging.
Check it out, sagging pants is like wearing a wedding ring while you are in jail.
It let’s everyone know that someone already owns and controls your tail.
This gave his man the ability to always see Little Kevin’s butt.
And it gave him easy access when he wanted to get that nut.
For 10 years Little Kevin lived like this so that he would not be beat.
He followed prison rules until the day came when he was able to reenter these exact streets.
From street king, to jail house queen, and now he was an actual hood legend to the youth.
See, Little Kevin’s prison lover was locked-up for life so he would never be able to get out and tell you all the truth.
Little Kevin’s body was free but his mind was still in prison as he was out on the streets bragging.
So he continued to sit down on the toilet to pee and he kept on wearing his pants sagging.
The youth saw Little Kevin as a hero, role model, and legend who followed no rules.
So they copied his style, his sagging pants, because it was perceived as being cool.
Now, when you see young people out there wearing their pants low, you know the truth.
And you need to recognize the impacts people like Little Kevin and his prison lover have on today’s youth.
James F. Sears, Jr September 2011
