Ian's 16th

The kids wanted to hoop,
So we strolled down to the school,
Avon-something-or-other Hills,
Rolled through the new subdivision,
Shades of Sterling Hts. all over,
Twenty years past my own teen years.
My nephews/Ian, Azhebek and Waasnode,
Sixteen, thirteen and ten,
My kids Zhaawosh and Waawaas,
Fourteen and twelve respectively,
Where has the time gone,
How did they all get so old?
My cuz Gezhik and I leading the way,
Reminiscing as we went,
This game or that game,
Do you remember when,
that pow wow in Toronto,
when we went to Wikmemikong.
Gezh, you shoulda finished school,
Shoulda transferred to E.L.,
Moved out to Hazlett or wherever,
But I got my own list too,
Shoulda, coulda, woulda,
So much time just flew by.
Little Thunderbolt stayed behind,
Ewaseset-Nodin hanging with auntie,
Still only four years old,
A chip off the old block,
I’m gonna be in so much s@#%,
If that boy pulls half the stuff I did.
He’s waiting for some birthday cake,
Wants some of them giveways,
We all converged to help celebrate,
My nephew Ian’s sixteenth birthday,
The cousins happy to be with their peeps.
Hooping, footballing, Waas in her flipflops,
Schooling the boys with her jump shot,
Hauling down touchdown passes,
But that girl’s got some game,
No matter whatever it is we play,
How did she manage to get that way?
The boys lumber along, just need a nudge,
Azh, you own the paint, that’s all you,
Ian, just shoot when you get open,
Calm down, don’t sweat the points,
Just have fun, who cares who wins?