Jason Reynolds's Blog, page 15

Day 11 of 30

BOIL

It didn’t choose the pot

Nor did it raise the flame

So if the water’s hot

The water ain’t to blame

But yet it stands accused

For acting as you planned

How dare you play confused

When it finally burns your hand

Day 10 of 30

A LESSON ON POSTURE

old man

said son

stand up

straight up

bent over

aint you

aint you

ever seen

ever noticed

everybody

all them

praying that

hoping that

thinking that

every body

like yours

better off

made small

old man

said son

be big

look up

be big

look out

stand up

don’t bend

bent over

aint you

Day 9 of 30

(RE)EDUCATION

If I told you

to zip your lips

and throw away the key

without question or doubt

you’d be silent

But if I told you

to close your eyes

and fly

you’d raise your hand

and ask me how

as if mouths actually have zippers

as if zippers actually have locks

Day 8 of 30

EVOLUTION

I wonder

if my son

will be born

all beautiful

and brown

with black eyes

and broken ribs

and maybe even

a bullet hole

already

in his back

Day 7 of 30

WINK WINK

You wanna know how we do it?

How we be movin like that

like body be in seance

spirit singin in vibrato

to the rhythm?

And how we be stylin like that

fabric magnetized to melanin

like hats be tipped

but never tip over

like dresses be wafting

the world closer?

And how we be talkin like that

like slick like words

under our tongue

and behind our ears

like hidden diamonds?

And how we be prayin like that

use our outside voices

inside and inside voices

outside and lift

our hands to

hold the whole goddamn

world up?

And how we be thinkin like that

how we be making stuff

and making stuff up

and making made up

stuff the new stuff that

everybody be stuffed with

and we be stuck with

everybody saying it’s

their stuff?

And how we be jumpin

and playin

and cookin

and fightin

and forgivin

and forgivin

and livin

and livin

and lovin

how we be lovin

like that?

You wanna know how we do it?

You wanna know how we do it?

How we do it?

Yeah

Yeah

Yeah

I bet

you do.

Day 6 of 30

WRITING ADVICE

So what

you own a guitar

So what

you can strum

the strings and make a sound

Noisemaker

you better learn to tune it

You better learn to press hard

on the strings

Better let the friction burn

long enough

hard enough to

harden your fingertips

develop callouses

so that you

no longer feel the pain

it takes

to make

a proper note

to make

music

Day 5 of 30

KIDS

Do you know there are kids

Kids wearing painful ill-fitted crowns

forced onto them

until thorns in the head

feel like kisses

and tears dry blackened

and water becomes ink

Kids with holes in their bodies

Kids nailed to stigma and stagnation

Kids who don’t remember

their last supper

Kids whose disciples don’t

remember them

Kids who come from only a mother

immaculate conception has

become a messed up miracle

for most

(Kids who are never at their father’s house)

Kids who know something is wrong

but can only express it by

flipping over tables in the temple

only deal with it by hiding high

up in a foggy place

Kids who carry heavy crosses

The past weighs the most and

courses through their bloodstreams

It’s impossible to run or jump

when making a step is like

moving a mountain

Do you know their are kids

There are kids

Kids who are dying

for other people’s sins

Kids who might also be messiahs

But who will roll away their stones?

Day 4 of 30

MAMA GOT A LAPTOP

My mother hunches over

a new laptop

a gift from me

an invitation into now

and punches the keys

as if she were smashing ants

her fingers lifting

and lowering cautiously

almost mechanically

like baby’s first steps in

the white clunky shoes

And with fear in her face

illuminated by the backlight

of the future

she starts to chuckle

both nervously

and nostalgically

and says

Jason

this must be

how my father felt

when I tried to explain

a new thing

a new idea

a new technology

called checking accounts

Day 3 of 30

THE PEARLY GATES

My version of heaven

is actually a stage

a performance

in my honor

a roast

hosted by God

delivering

yo mama jokes

like

yo mama handed

you down halfway answers

like big brother clothes

oversized tradition

looked crazy on you kid

God would say

My love looks

so much better on you kid

God would say

And the audience would applaud

and laugh

with me

DAY 2 OF 30

TO HAVE A LATTE IN VIRGINIA

This coffee shop is such a trip

from the warm hellos to the burnt black drip

I sit by the window and take a sip

and think a while with somber grin

’bout years when people who came in

were killed for having coffee skin