Hadiya Pendleton

You got me wondering
How many more good ones gotta die
You got me asking
How many more families have to cry
You got me pleading
How many more young people won't grow old
Before we end this?

Because I don't know you
But I know goodness
I know intelligence
I know potential
All of that is shining in your face
Now I can't help but wonder
Sadly about the woman you would have been
The positive impact
You would have left
With the rest of your life

Now all I have
All we have
Is regret and sob stories
I hate the fact
That your precious bright life
Is used now
To paint a dark story
About gun violence here in Chicago
About being in the wrong place at the wrong time

As much as I want to get angry
About the foul stories
About my fair city
About my home
I only have to think of you
And the hot winds of anger
Are blown out of my sails

I am sorry
So sorry
That you couldn't live
I am sorry
Someone foolishly took your life
And I am sorry
That we couldn't keep you
That we couldn't save you