ESPN Taps Musician Sonne Riley To Pen A Poem To Serena Williams In Wake Of Her Us Open Loss

After Karolina Pliskova defeated Serena Williams on Thursday night, knocking Williams out of her bid for a 23rd major title at the US Open and losing her No. 1 spot, Baltimore musician Sonne Riley was inspired to write a poem. 

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For Serena Williams 

9/11 1999 serena won her first one/

9/11 1999 me n mom got evicted again/

well here comes aunty in her station wagon/

in the driver seat where father should have been/

she said you don’t have much/

but you’ll always have us/

wen theres nothin else/

 

not much i can comprehend/

cept mom n aunty love got no end/

shall i find peril later down in life/

i remember their every sacrifice/

n all the strength it took/

to fight everytime the devil wagered war

aunty taught me how to conquer like serena/

momma taught me to beat my match like serena/

n if this match i don’t win/

this game aint over I’m coming back again/

aunty taught me to be strong like serena/

momma taught me not to quit like serena/

n if this match i don’t win/

this game aint over I’m coming back again/

might not had a daddy/

might not had a home/

still i was never alone

had 2 black queens fight for me strong/

like serena williams/

 

momma had her flaws of course/

but even the best nets rip on the best tennis courts/

even best the players sometimes fall short/

that don’t mean that its over that your done for/

aunty spent her nights wit a bible under a lamp/

praying god pass a blessing by a back hand/

that one day she might see me again/

when they took me away/

i can see their hurt inside/

no matter how strong those woman were/

they couldn’t stand losing one of theirs/

but even without em i survived/

all cuz the lessons i learned on 9/11 1999

aunty taught me how to conquer like serena/

momma taught me to beat my match like serena/

n if this match i don’t win/

this game aint over I’m coming back again/

aunty taught me to be strong like serena/

momma taught me not to quit like serena/

n if this match i don’t win/

this game aint over I’m coming back again/

might not had a daddy/

might not had a home/

still i was never alone

had 2 black queens fight for me strong/

like serena williams

Baltimore native singer and songwriter Sonne Riley new video for “Want Love” explores the topic of depression and suicide saliently without soap boxing, while the raw emotion of his vocals punctuates the message in just the right way. Check it out and follow him on Twitter:  @sonneriley.