America’s Promise

America’s Promise sits in jail,

A man who was once a boy,

Born with gifts one could only hope for,

Intelligence, athleticism and charm as well.

America’s Promise was born to her freedom,

Played in her dirt and attended her schools.

He played on her fields, courts and arenas,

And went to Europe as her ambassador.

America’s Promise read Homer and Shakespeare,

And studied Einstein, Galileo and Pythagoras.

He worked out trigonometry and calculus, too,

And wrote intriguing, stories and poems that rhymed.

But, America’s Promise succeeded to fast,

Socially inept and unable to cope.

He turned to drugs but had little control,

And America’s promise sits in jail.