May 26, 2006 Print version       Other articles by this author

we are not all
lurking
trembling between DL hell
and picture perfect projections
of wifey and kids
shivering between night knights at twilight
and forgetting ourselves and our Crixivan
inside of somebody

we are not all dishonest
especially with ourselves
and many of us tell the truth about ourselves
even when we are shunned and whispered about
even when we rhyte to save our lives
and they say our stories aren't marketable
like DL articles

so I'm not in awe
of the rebuke and caw and panic
of victims and vampires
of brothas who spit out condoms
bellydance with b-boys
and return home to black madonnas

there is something terribly terrifying
about this demonization and hype
cuz there are stories about us
that have not been told
like when we were dying
trying to be ourselves
way before the shallow echoes of DL

and there were no front-page highlights
then