My Friend the Foster Kid

(poems go here) You left a long time ago AWOL, Mom said Gone for years Until I finally heard about you Ronald Resendez What are you doing? Roni are you still so handsome Roni would you even recognize me Roni did you forget Roni do you remember how we used to play basketball in my driveway How we used to go shopping for clothes in Macy's How we ate Starbursts at Target How we used to get ice cream at Coldstone And then that one time I knew it was bad Like that one time, Roni You showed me your mark That little black dot on your elbow Tough, right? Roni what was it like? Roni what did you do? Roni what did they do to you? Sometimes I think It's good you forgot about us You did bad things You were with bad people Your gang What if you came and hurt us And my family But no one ever came and hurt us Maybe you did love us Roni no one ever taught you how to get better You were always bad, they said Everyone probably told you that you were bad Did anyone ever treat you right? We treated you right Why weren't we enough To change you No one believed in you You weren't lucky You weren't like me 1 Maybe, Roni, you could tell me what it's like there Do you have friends Are you happy Is this everything you expected your life to be Do you wear orange jumpsuits Do you get one call a day Do you sit behind glass and talk to visitors I don't know what it's like Roni if we were together now I would show you That you can fix it We can go to Coldstone And tattoos are removable No little black dots You don't have to be with them You can come to school with me We can still be friends I can show you what a family is I can show you what role models are I can show you how to grow up In that place no one ever gave you What were you thinking Roni? I didn't know money at a Shell gas station was worth so much Did you sharpen your knives before you did it? Did you plan on aiming for the neck? Do you always threaten people by holding guns before their faces? Did you know you were going to steal two cars that night? How many bullets did you put in your handgun? Did you plan on shooting him four times? Roni when did you start waking up in the morning and decide you wanted to be a bad person? When did you decide to be a killer, Roni? The newspaper didn't tell me, Roni And neither did you And I cried for you Roni I did your crying for you And I wanted to visit you But I thought He doesn't know me He doesn't want me Roni we are friends Roni you were almost my brother But he thinks he doesn't need me Tough, right? But I'm not afraid of you You're nothing Roni you almost killed someone And now you're in jail.