TurtleFrogMan - What Are You Lookin' At Punk?

He had a tight grip on the scruff of my polo shirt collar
In the hallway adjoining our civil war history class
He was tougher than I was and maybe a few inches taller
And for reasons unknown sought to pummel my innocent ass
He was a black kid who had learned early on to hate whitey
A philosophy passed from his parents that they got from theirs
I was sick of harassment, the hatred was welling inside me
And for just a few seconds, our eyeballs were locked in death stares
And He said
What are you lookin at punk
You wanna fight me?
And I lowered my gaze not from fear, I wasn't scared to fight, honest
I just thought, teeth getting knocked from my head
Might be unsightly
And besides my sainted mother was still paying our orthodontist
A crowd of kids gathered around and then quickly fell silent
They watched me surrender my dignity up in disgrace
We teach all our kids they should never fight back or be violent
But I deeply regret I didn't punch that kid square in the face
He let me loose and I suffered the crowd's scorn and laughter
But my teeth were in place and my eyes in their sockets secured
The damage he'd done I wouldn't feel until many years after
I've replayed that day in my mind, so many times its absurd
And He said, What are you lookin at punk
You wanna fight me?
See, I didn't want to hurt the kid, I was well trained in Karate
So I refused to his invitation but I did so extremely politely
I put my head down and walked slowly past the whole student body
I've had a good life with that I'll not quibble or bicker
As shakespeare once wrote: "my brow's bound with a victory wreath"
But As TS Eliot wrote, "I saw the moment of my greatness flicker"
And when the time came for me to stand up and fight
I elected to keep all my teeth
If I saw that man again, I'd take his black hand and I'd shake it
He helped me see the truth about myself for which I'm empowered
I've got many fine qualities but there's no point in trying to fake it
Deep down inside, I'm just a sniveling coward
And He said, What are you lookin at punk
You wanna fight me?
After he said that, I lowered my gaze there and then
And now I'm cursed to replay it in mind, practically nightly
And I wonder, would I fight that kid if I do it over again?

Written by:
BD Shap

Publisher:
Lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid

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