Table of Contents
I.
We Don't Die 1
Seventy-Two Hours 2
Yea I Did It 4
Perhaps We Are Our Ancestors' Wildest Dreams 5
11:05 on a Saturday Night and the Dancefloor Is Galling Me by My Government Name 6
I Don't Know What Y'all Came to Do 8
In Detroit a Cluster of Black Folks Is Called a Hustle 9
And It Don't Stop 11
Tiran 13
Ma'am I'm Sorry to Tell You Your Son Is D- 15
Word Bank or My Mother's First Words Upon Realizing I Am Not Asleep in My Bed 16
Word Problems 17
Impact: A Run-On Question 18
If I'm Caught Between A Badge and A Hard Place Three Hours after the Street Lights Turn On 19
On a Day I Pass Another 100-Year-Old White Man A Black Man Is Pronounced Dead at 54 20
Last Call 21
I Think Heaven Is Actually Right Here Stevie 23
II.
How We Survive the End 27
What Don't Kill You 29
Pleading with Scraped Knuckles 30
I Left the Church in Search of God 32
Ekphrasis of the Black Boy Being Dunked On in Front of a Confederate Statue 34
Ode to Powerline 37
Dreamgirls Soundtrack Track 5 38
Loaded 40
Cain 41
What Is There to Do in Akron, OH? 42
Shatter 43
Said the Mirror to Its Reflection 44
Black & Mild 45
My Older Brother Apologizes 47
Early 2000's Fashion Was A Confusing Time for All of Us 49
III.
Glossary of Terms 53
Etymology of "Fuck 12" 56
10:33 Outside Your Local Precinct 57
Worksheet #1 58
What We Doin Here? 59
The Role of the Artist 60
A Poem in Which We Shoot Back 61
In a Past Life I Was Choked by a Pig and All My Neighbors Watched It Happen Instead of Jumping in 63
The Most Important Ballot of Our Lifetime Again 65
Capitol Capital 66
This Last Election Was a Riot 67
Irrefutable Proof I Knew the President Personally 68
Up Above My Head 69
Ok So Maybe the Rally Won't Get Us Free 70
A Million Men March into a Wildfire 71
Stop the Violence! 72
You Know He Shot at the Police Right? 73
Nonprofit Equity Statement Walks Into a Summer 2020 Writing Workshop 75
There's Fires to Start 77
Untitled (For Lack of Free Time) 78
Worksheet #2 79
I Live Just East of a Contradiction 80
Objective Facts 82
Resources 89
Notes/Previously Published 92
Acknowledgements 95
About the Author 99
