in Chicago (summer 2013)


Streams in Chicago
              of people on their daily ride.
From one end to another side
                filing past me
                           in suits and ties
[and all varieties of workwear, within a designation]
in dark fluorescent corridors
                     while the sun outside
                                         shines
and the street, relatively
                      pedestrian free.

 

     in Chicago
     there are more churches
     boarded up buildings
     & the seasonal No Parking signs
     come with a qualifier
     "no parking when the snow
                        is over 2 inches"
                         TOW ZONE

Racine and Root St.
we passed both on the way out

and I imagine the roots grow thick here
     of our cities (check out the train stn)
         but also our inequities
      how in our society
      your doors - those open
                          those closed
       and even the doors you know exist
   are decided/determined
                     by your parents class
                                  & history
So being black here means you
may be offered a certain
story - and if you want another

Well I imagine there's a lot of pudding demanded of you...
b/c the distance between
                those who drive in their
           cars to the tidy offices with
 clear lines and green grass
 and the people I see on the bus (with me)
is as stark as the lines separating
        the property that
                          has been
                          using fertilizer
and that which has not.