Way Back

Let’s go way back, way back
When we slept in the back of the hatchback
Sat in the car without getting carjack
Talked smack and got smack
Played hopscotch and jacks
Ms. Mary Mack was all dressed in black
Wore a snatch-back without looking like a snap back

Let’s go way back, way back
When pancakes were flapjacks
Mama made sweet potato jacks
Lard didn’t give us a heart attack
Wild Irish Rose made us kickback
Drunk Kool-Aid like a six-pack

Maybach was a Cadillac
Selfies was a Kodak
Text was a call back
Bought our clothes off-the-rack
Wore originals, not throwbacks

Penny loafers made us tip back
The twerk was “baby got back”
Let’s go way back, way back
When times were cool and laidback
Nobody needed Prozac

Drive-in movies let us lean back
Ate at Sizzlers and not Outback
Prizes were in crackerjacks
Watched cartoons like Sad Sack
Ice cream man said, “keep coming back”
Florida screamed,
“DAMN, DAMN, DAMN,
James Please Come Back”!

Let’s go way back, way back
The Jackson Five was our soundtrack
“I’ll Be There” was on playback
CDs were eight tracks
Foxy Brown was the Mack
Shaft was the man in black
Claudine showed us what it was like to be black

Let’s go way back, way back
Walk the streets without getting kidnap
A payback was a comeback
Didn’t need a gun as backup
Everyone was part of the pack
Family was the rat pack
Watch each other’s back like fullbacks

Let’s go way back, way back
When we could be ourselves
without push back
The community gave back
The village had our backs
If only we could turn the clock back
When grandma’s prayers saved us