Those white boys are gonna
body you in here, Kadon says
Or they’ll die trying
They know about East Hills?
I ask
He looks at me like
I just asked the dumbest question
We’re in the mess hall for
breakfast and word got around
that they got me, they got me
for Jeremy Mathis
They got me for all the things
they heard about me
all the things
they think they know
but I can’t say that I didn’t do
what they think I did
They can try, I say
keeping my head down
eyes up, looking around
but never at or through anyone
just aroundaware alert
at how they all put themselves
into groups, squads, teams, gangs
Back at East Hills High School for the Arts
we were like a paint palette
blending into each other
in swirls of color, shade, hair
size, height, values, souls
memories, intelligence, beliefs
Here, we’re not even paint
We’re a box of cheap markers
that don’t even blend well
The shit that forces you
to stay in the lines or else
the colors will bleed
The colors will bleed