Because I never learned
a damn thing in school,
since D.A.R.E. came
long after truth.
Because maps don’t work
here, and
there is oil, but
“The Rainbow isn’t Enuf.”
Because ain’t no nigga playing Spider-Man
Or James Bond.
Because it’s raining right now
in Antigua,
but North Philly is lovely this time of year.
Because gaps need bridges,
but snitches get stitches
Plus,
Anything I say can and will be used against me in a court
of law.
Because there are no mirrors
big enough.
Because singing out
loud demands confidence.
Because Mr. Emas died
half-way through graphic design class—
took my visual art with him.
Because anxiety wasn’t uniquely
holding a gun to my head,
And Frankford by-laws state
I should have long since been dead.
Because so few cats
can swim
and even salmon
die trying.
Joseph Earl Thomas is a Writing Studies graduate student at Saint Joseph’s University. A sometimes poet and memoirist, he specializes in speculative fiction centered on disenfranchisement, coming of age as a person of color and prolonged encounters related to war. Click here to read his blogs.