Workshoppin
by J.Lyte
I learned today that there is no
Difference in the red ink on my
Workshopped poem
And the redlining going on
In my grandfathers’ neighborhood,
Both are meant to eliminate
Black ink
Taking up the white space
Speaking of taking up white space
Hello,
I said to the boy in the trump mask
Spray painting something in support
Of his president on school grounds,
Here we go again
Another act of aggression
From some white man
Trying to mark his territory
That wasn’t his to begin with
After feeling empowered by
Someone who is trying to eliminate
Anything of color,
They started building nice things
In the neighborhood
Added a state of the art community school
And picking up trash on the side of the roads
They started closing the government housing
Said they’re going to rebuild it
But they just made an offer on my grandfather’s house
I feel uncomfortable,
I text my friend as
I’m walking from the library
And the two white boys behind me
Start talking about having sex with a black girl
And wondering what it would be like to do so
I don’t believe it,
My uncle says when the city
Releases a new plan for downtown
But it doesn’t really include fixing issues
Just moving people out
And we learn everything that they’re doing
Is for the future residents
Who are going to take over and
Try to reclaim it
As white space