One came with sneakers that are new, 
one came with sneakers that are old. 
One boy’s face was happy,
yet the other’s face was cold.
If the first boy was a flower,
standing tall and proud,
the second boy was a predator, 
ready to rip it from the ground. 
Different views of life were seen—
and different stories could be told.
Yet if you asked either boy what they liked, 
you’d know that basketball was gold. 
The first boy was fast like water,
but the other was smart like a fox;
And where one boy stuttered,
the other didn’t balk.
They both played with passion,
leaving life’s worries off the court; 
they made a temporary friendship
that not even weather could thwart. 
But when the game was over, 
and their time there was finished, 
the boys remained in high spirits—
with happiness undiminished. 
But when they both turned around
and walked back to the life they knew,
the first went back to a life of rich boredom;
the other went back to a life of black and blue.