(for r.b.)
brown boy. afro. on the street flagging down supershuttle.
ghetto-fabulous.
crown-royal jacket. two men.
tall and short. country and grammar?
we got grammar.

inside:
dark and loud. at 3:45 in the morning!
WHY?
why not sleep?

who knows?
and a white girl.
too much talk.
extra-friendly.
too early.
and my mouth shut in deference to the peace that wishes to surround.
talk, words, talk.
articulate and well-spoken.
he and her.
environmental woes...

knows how to give love?
arkansas, that may explain it.
Hello.
Hello.
Have a great flight.
Politician are you?

[i can't get over crown royal]
and on the way to chicago after liberal vermont and littered on new york.
learn to travel better

what about me?
a look--a brief stare
it is 4 o'clock in the morning!
what do you want from me?
all that noise and you give ME silence?

do i evoke such responses?
(did i forget the pick? and a metal one at that.)



high school and parts of college. even after, i wondered, what's wrong with me?
is it something in my eyes that keeps them away?
i know your whole life story and still no hello.

in college i heard 'intimidated' and i would laugh.
who's afraid of the dark?
get a life and keep it moving.

i didn't want the blame--still don't.

in high school, we decided if they didn't want us they were gay.
but gay is as friendly as they get, isn't it?

then when i moved to new york it was unapproachable.
and i remembered my thoughts as i walked on by:
i dare you.
what could you possibly have for me?
...maybe i did give off the wrong vibe.
so now i'm recreated.
i smile at strangers who take the non-clue and begin to speak.

i don't want to talk to you!
and NO i don't want your number!!!

just smile; it's more that enuf.
satisfaction takes so many different forms.
but this one, crown royal, just like so many, but unique like a very select few.

it's not me, it's you, who speaks to everyone breathing but me.
the people who really matter i suppose.
those who you may never see again. may their lives be touched my your loving-kindness.

of course my "are you my husband?" radar may have been up too high. yes, even at 3:45 in the morning. especially after country turned to grammar.
variegated.
and do i speak?
with no silence it is difficult to (insert word here).
and blank stares have a way of detaining even the most outspoken of us all.
so what of meaning? what words are to be spoken, mr. country man in a liberal town on his way to the area surrounding the big city?
keep looking, never speaking.
and talk to those [women] who do dote on you, knowing the whole time, it is your reality you do avoid.