“Knockout”

I see him lying on his back, staring up at the clouds. He’s daydreaming I think. He daydreams about the day he’ll win that title. Ever since Miguel’s father died three years ago, he’s never been the same. All he ever does is train. He trains for every fight, he fights every day. I asked Miguel once, why he tried so hard. He ignored me. He wants to be as great as his father was. But Miguel doesn’t care about me or you, or anyone else. He doesn’t care about being poor or homeless, he doesn’t care about what day it is or what time it is, and it doesn’t matter to him where he’s at. All that matters is where he’s going. All he cares about is being the best, and knocking out anyone that gets in his way. The Miguel that I used to know isn’t there. Muigel the warrior has replaced him.

“Poolside”

I like to sit by the pool. Sometimes I’ll go in, and attempt to swim. I don’t know how to swim, but I wish I did. The toasty warm blanket that is summer, wraps around me and engulfs my body in a pleasant breeze. Nothing could be more peaceful than sitting poolside, sipping punch, watching the pink and yellow and orange sunset. When summer is over, I won’t have that anymore. I’ll have to wait through fall, winter, and spring. Oh, summer how I’ll miss you.

“There goes the cake”

It was supposed to be a normal wedding. Everything was supposed to be just perfect. But in my family, nothing’s normal. The ceremony went smoothly as planned, but the reception...that was a different story. First, my uncle Téo got into a fight with the DJ, because he wouldn’t play his favorite song. Then someone stepped on the bride’s dress, and boy did she flip out. Throughout the night a whole mess of unfortunate events occurred. Finally, it was time to cut the cake, I don’t know how or why, but there went Téo, flying right into the cake. Dead silence, throughout the whole room. Out of nowhere, the bride starts to crack up in laughter, eventually everyone is in tears from laughing so hard. The groomsmen went to Shop-rite and got a few large cakes for everyone. At least the party never stopped.

“Tempo”

There she goes again. She hangs around those clubs a lot; she’s a dancer. She could have been something great. She could have gotten that job with Google. Too bad she dropped out of high school. Now a baby and three shelters later, she’s still stuck here. I see her around sometimes, she bobs to the tempo of the thumping speakers in her car. She can still go back to school if she wants to, but she wouldn’t do that. She’s too scared of the real world. She’s too scared to try again. So now she’s stuck here. We all watched her, we all learned from her, we’ll never be her.