Table of Contents
Mama Saba asks 1
This is how I scare the dirt 5
Legend has it 7
And maybe we all know a "Ricky" 9
What I know is this 11
My parents 13
Divorce is a stubborn grease fire 14
Love can bea reckless child 15
Perhaps I told you I was leaving 16
I
I'll Fly Away (Erasure) 23
The poem where I lie about everything 25
Most of what I know 27
Sometimes I'm the mess 29
Drowning Fish 30
Afterwards 33
2009 (Erasure) 34
Here I am today 36
I wish you a checkered flag 37
I once held on to a grudge 39
I want the kind of happiness 41
There are people 43
Ode to the block button 45
Have you ever noticed 47
Throughout most of my childhood 49
Seventeen 50
II
Perfect (Erasure) 56
You are a strange kind of beautiful 59
How 60
If you find yourself 61
When you walk into the room 63
I hope the camera gods bless you with a steady hand 65
A lot like you 67
Golden Girls Theme Song (Erasure) 69
III
Miranda Rights (Erasure) 75
It is the year 2036 76
Speak 79
NRA Statement on Texas, Ohio Tragedies 80
NRA Statement on Texas, Ohio Tragedies (Erasure) 81
Click 83
Climate Change 84
I watched the viral videoof the police officer 87
Alternate endings for the black movies that I can't stop watching 89
When they say he is black 91
Instructions for black people 92
To the Black Donald Trump Supporters 95
Let's just say 97
I remember when this neighborhood was an orchard 99
The youth choir sings "I believe I can fly" 101
The Peace Lily 103
IV
Family Matters Theme Song (Erasure) 109
Dear PTSD 110
Whoever said a choir 111
Lasalle 112
It usually happens 113
Uwani 115
The women in my family never use measuring cups 117
Isn't She Lovely (Erasure) 118
Unsolicited advice 119
I say black fatherhood 123
Zoey 124
And the morning shows up 125
Index 127
Acknowledgments 129