A melatonin frenzy,
where hurried bodies
scatter back and forth.
----------------------------------
I walked down the hallway to the dance floor,
streamers hanging from their perch atop the ceiling,
searching for my curly haired friend
among the dizzying mass of people.
A wave of sound hit me
as the chatter of impatient teenagers
rocking back and forth on their Jordans
overlaid the loud bass echoing in my throat.
As the crowd grew louder,
my throat constricted,
choking on the harsh words
of people I didn’t understand.
Every few seconds,
someone would start a mosh pit, cheering and clapping,
“Ay ay ay”
hyping up the dancer in the middle.
I just tried not to get trampled on,
bodies ebbing in and away,
shoving, pushing past me
and into another circle.
Smoke from a vape trailed through the air,
fake money littered the cold gym floor,
and students fell over one another,
screeching as they danced.
Afros and locs
made their way across the room
shouting out the n-word
like one does their own name.
Easy, familiar, with no hesitation.
Meanwhile,
I counted down the seconds
until I could leave.
The truth is,
as I stood there,
listening to music I was supposed to like
in the space where I was supposed to belong,
with the people I was supposed to belong to
I had never felt less Black.
I Had Never Felt Less Black
More by Geri
-
Listening to Wind
It is September, yet
I can still hear the beach.
The sea moves and swells;
it tumbles to the shore,
dusts itself off,
-
I think my parents deserve to be happy.
They deserve to laugh and sit on the floor and coo over babies.
They deserve to talk in a language I don’t understand.
They deserve to look at each other with love.
-
Providence
Sweat gathers everywhere as
I climb the golden pavement.
The known ways, the known faces
are waves in the sound.
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