The Tradition

by Jericho Brown

There is the happiness you have And the happiness you deserve. They sit apart from each other

No matter how sore the injury Has left you, you sit understanding Yourself as a human being finally Free now that nobody’s got to love you.

She told me I could have whatever I worked for. That means she was an American.

Blk is not a country, but I live there

We use Maps we did not draw. We see A sea so cross it. We see a moon So land there. We love land so Long as we can take it. Shhh.

Candles are Romantic because We understand shadows.

Some of us don’t need hell to be good.

Burg, boro, ville, and wood, I hate those tiny towns, Their obligations. If I needed Anyone to look at me, I’d dye my hair purple