what would you say if you picked up your phone
and you found out your baby was not coming home
would look for excuses as to why this went down
would you try to find reasons that could not be found
would it matter he was suspended, whether not it is true
smoking weed, skipping class, things teenagers do
would it matter he’s no angel and did some things wrong
or would all that matters is your baby is gone
what if Trayvon were a dog, would George Z. be in jail
if he fought dogs in his spare time and played ball, NFL
what if George Z. was black and Trayvon he was white
would this change all our minds bout’ what happened that night
what if he were Samoan and George Z. was Chinese
would people still care or would it put them at ease
what if Trayvon were gay and George Z was a Jew
tell me what in the hell does that have to do
with the subject at hand, which is murder no doubt
killed by neighborhood watch while out and about
what if things went much deeper, and the world came to us
would they excuse their behavior while betraying our trust
what if George Z. was Afghan and trained to do harm
and Trayvon was a village of people unarmed
would we dive into their past back till God knows how long
and try to find everything that they ever did wrong
what if race didn’t matter and we were all the same color
what if every man and woman was my sister or brother
what if the pledge of allegiance adorned every wall
and in all caps would be “AND JUSTICE FOR ALL”
and the hatred we are spewing and the ignorance said
was erased from our vocabularies and gone from our head
and the world was all love and was rid of all bad
every kid has a home with a good mom and a dad
and the evil would subside and the bad people would go
and then love peace and joy would be all that we know
but alas this can’t be, and it is what it is
and there will always be monsters as long as there’s kids
what if Sanford was Sacramento and Trayvon was your son
and George Z. was your neighbor who was holding the gun
what if Trayvon was a girl named Sierra LaMar
and instead of being shot, he was pulled in a car
what if he was Dwight Stallings, who was born right here
an infant from Sacramento, missing almost a year
or Jessica Funk-Haslam, for whom little’s been said
last seen at her house, found in a park dead
what if instead of finding justice, the system hit the brakes
and started digging through their past for all their mistakes
what if all of them had issues, did they all deserve this
would the case against their suspects be promptly dismissed
what if we stopped focusing on the throwing of dirt
and we focused now on the pain and the hurt
that was caused by these young lives being taken away
with hope turning to despair more and more everyday
what if our wrong way of thinking is keeping us from the right
what if throwing more food doesn’t stop a food fight
what if we stopped complaining about what we don’t do
and realize that the change starts right here with you
in seeking justice not for one, but for all of our kids
and worried less about “what if”, and more about “what is”.
By Sergio Villarreal
