Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Birthplace

   by Michael Cirelli


Deep in the Boogie Down—
 the bassinet of the boom bap
 where the trinity is The Treacherous Three,

English is the third language
 behind Bronx and Puerto Rican,
  and I was nervous

because I only speak Catholic school
 and I'm a Red Sox fan.  

I'm just a student of KRS-1, not a son,

on a train fourteen stops beyond my comfort
 zone hiding behind headphones coughing
  bass, and a backpack full of lyrics:

Notorious B.I.G., Rakim, Perdomo,
Run DMC, Brooks, wanting to be real cool,
two cartoon magpies with attitude
wanting to be their "dawg"—
 but feeling like a mailman,
  another Elvis

to the students I will lead 
 through a workshop in a language

  I itch to get my rusted cavities around.
 
from: Vacations on the Black Star Line
Copyright 2010. 
 
 

No comments:

Post a Comment