Mama didn’t just up and die when she found out I was sharing an efficiency with a black lesbian named Djimbe Skyy.
Skipped Renaissance Ensemble to watch lightning strikes over Central Park, barely caught the subway in time for my Piano Composition class
Monet’s Water Lilies ~~~ Van Gogh’s Starry Night
Joined a ska band called Crystal Night—
Quit after the ADL picketed our gig at the Bottom Line.
Thought I was the only person from Farmville, North Carolina to eat a falafel sandwich or have a friend named Qadeer.
At first we dressed in the bathroom, but it was such a pain and pretty soon I quit showing excitement if I saw…well you know—didn’t blush if she saw me.
It was a month before I quit staring up at sky-scraped cityscapes. Two months and I sneered at cricked-necked tourist. After three, I just didn’t give-a-shit.
But what I remember most is going home,
stepping off the bus—
First thing my daddy says is “Come here boy, let me look at you. Why you haven’t changed a lick— not a lick.”