if i catch the right on 27th a little behind schedule
by JUSTIN HYDE
i get stuck behind a school-bus.
it makes four stops
down a seven block stretch
before i can hang a left on mlk
and dip down to work.
they get off
in small clusters
shoving each other
shouting things like:
gimme me that phone nigger
&
bitch
better have my sweater
monday.
none of them
carry school bags
of any kind.
today
a kid broke out
the back window of the bus
with a rock
as it drove away
(it didn’t stop).
as i drive by
they shoot me
grim insect death.
i just smile back lamely
trying to be broad-minded
as to their potentiality
down the road.
but some ancient coal
fans
down near the bowels.
not that i personally
wish them harm
or that i entertain
the merits of
selective genocide.
but neither
am i immune
to this taste of homicide
on my tongue.
if i catch the right on 27th a little behind schedule
by JUSTIN HYDE
i get stuck behind a school-bus.
it makes four stops
down a seven block stretch
before i can hang a left on mlk
and dip down to work.
they get off
in small clusters
shoving each other
shouting things like:
gimme me that phone nigger
&
bitch
better have my sweater
monday.
none of them
carry school bags
of any kind.
today
a kid broke out
the back window of the bus
with a rock
as it drove away
(it didn’t stop).
as i drive by
they shoot me
grim insect death.
i just smile back lamely
trying to be broad-minded
as to their potentiality
down the road.
but some ancient coal
fans
down near the bowels.
not that i personally
wish them harm
or that i entertain
the merits of
selective genocide.
but neither
am i immune
to this taste of homicide
on my tongue.
(post is archived)