Ali

When I first saw you fight
I was 7, I think
I watched your first bout
With Leon Spinks
You lost that night
It made me cry
I was too young to even
Understand why
Even at that young age I could see
The Greatness of Muhammad Ali

I watched the rematch
You won that fight
The world seemed back
In alignment that night
Your boxing career
Was fading from view
But Ali the legend
Just grew and grew
Still too young to know
What I was seeing
Watch this colossus
Of a human being

In the summer of 2002
I went to a football game
Just to see you
Your hands were trembling
Your voice it was frail
Your words were slower
Than a week in jail
It mattered not
Your body wasn’t compliant
You spoke with a whisper
But still roared like a lion
The crowd roared for you
They had all come to see
And chant your name
Ali, Ali, Ali

As the years went on
I studied you more
Boxing was what made you
But courage defined you more
The power of your punches
Couldn’t match your strength of convictions
The Greatest ever
Only slowed by afflictions
A man that was shaped
By your turbulent times
You gave up your gift
Right in the midst of your prime
Because you didn’t believe
In killing a man
Because he was different
And lived in a far away land

News that you are gone
Has made me reflect
That a man I never knew
Had such an effect
You sure weren’t perfect
You’ll be the first to admit
You did some things in your life
That you said you regret
But if we looked down upon
Everyone that did wrong
Our list of heroes
Would be zero lines long
If I could say one thing
To you it would be
You were a hero of mine
Muhammad Ali

Rest in Peace Champ.