At some point
I stopped caring about Ms. Rinaldi’s
Advanced Placement Art History class
But Umi got on me for
cutting class
Amal, you love art
You know this stuff
Why are you being so
so defeatist?
Umi didn’t know
that I had cut school
to visit the art museum downtown
I had cut school
to sit in the park
on a bench with my sketch pad
drawing trees and leaves
and sky and birds
just to get my skills up
just to understand the rules
of line and texture
and shading
and
black and white
Just so I can break those rules
And I didn’t need Ms. Rinaldi
to tell me that I wasn’t advanced
or I didn’t have history
There, outside of my arts high school
the internet was my teacher
and
I discovered
Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden
Faith Ringgold and Kerry James Marshall
Alma Thomas and Norman Lewis
So when
the mural is
finally done
and it’s Visitors Day
and the guys start
coming to the dayroom
and the families
start lining up to take
pictures in front of it
Kadon says
with the widest smile
I’ve seen on him
in weeks
That’s fire, son!
Young Basquiat, for real!
The heavy thing in my throat
falls out onto the floor and disappears
The heavy thing on my chest
rises out of my body and disappears
I get applause when the guys see it
I get pats on the back, daps, handshakes
I get respect because I did something
that I wanted to do even while trapped
in this box