Mixed Emotions Poem by Mustafa Marconi

He hurried past a group of sleeping yo-yos
Boasting about treasures soon to come
Unaware of dangers right beside them
He ducked into an alley in my view
A week ago this group of local gangsters
Robbed and shot his brother for fourteen bucks
Content to make himself the judge and jury
He risk his life to somehow make this right
Across the street I see this play unfolding
And cue my crew to move away from strays
We wrestle with the choice of intervening
Or warning these buffoons of pending death
The belief we shared was that this was only karma
A long overdue reaction for many wrongs
So we subtlety cleared the block of human traffic
And braced ourselves for vengeance undeterred
From the east a single man approaches
And asks them for directions no man could know
As they think the boy has crept behind them
And emptied out his clip without remorse
Police arrived some thirteen minutes later
Detectives asking questions door to door
Upset that no one seems to have an answer
As eight cadavers lie inches from my door
I wrestle with my choice of not impeding
As cries of death echoes through my mind
Mixed emotions only for a moment
As I see the bodies falling one by one
A week ago this group of local gangsters
Robbed and shot a minor for fourteen bucks
Now their grieving mothers are crying out for answers
Resolved to find a way to make this right