KOBE

It wasn't so much who Kobe was.
He was a stranger to virtually all of us

I met him when he was 18 with a broken hand on the set of Sister, Sister
He was hanging with Brandy and was
Deeply shy

But it wasn't so much who Kobe was
It was what he represented

My son Jake idolized him
And all these years later
He will continue to idolize him
Forever

Because it wasn't so much who Kobe was

He was what we needed.

What Derek Jeter was to New York
Kobe was to Los Angeles.

He was a hero at a time when we
Had heroes
Who worked overtime
To be one

His obsessive pursuit of perfection
Was mythological

Losing was unimaginable.

Being ordinary was unacceptable.

He moved like a jungle cat
Mocking gravity
Defying physics
Seducing  the impossible
Beaming like a spectator
At his endless bucket drains
That
Looked like the comet trails
Of high tech smart bombs

He was a virtuouso
Who could find the mathematical equation
Of the improvised court
melody
Like Monk
On a smokey
After midnight
Paris
Stage

He was glam
And slam
And sneakers
And threads
And wattage
That could be seen
From
Mars

To the end
He was a student
Who knew
That
The success of
Other people
Was all the
Tuition that
He needed
To attend the
University of life

He was a father
Of daughters
And was not a saint
Yet

He might have earned that
Title had his
Life continued
Which no doubt
In time
would have
Taught him that
Arrogance is the
Suit that self-assured man
And mentors
Shed
Before they
Explode with
The beauty
And the wisdom of butterflies

Kobe will not age
He will not turn
Gray
Or hobbled
He will be a forever stranger
To his baby
Who will not know him
Any better than we will

His wife will search for
His scent
And trace her fingers
In the sculpted imprint of his
Mournful Pillow.

His legend will
Make him
Even more outsized
And statuesque
and immortal

But that isn't who Kobe was

He was a
a son
Who was exceptionally gifted
And more than willing
To thrill
Us
like everyday
Was a holiday
And tomorrow was
Another parade.