Chlorine Sky

by Mahogany L. Browne

So when Curtis say the things I’ve already said about myself & she laugh I know deep down inside she ain’t never care about me at all.

He says every child deserve to be the sun To know they come from the sun & if the sun snuff itself to dusk before its time & no shine is left to see Let it be

When you live where we live You say what it is & if you can’t say what it is Or if it hurt too much Or maybe it’s too confusing You just say “whatever.”

The ones who take over my uncles’ bodies after weeks of playing ghost only to return him to our front door with his clothes all crumpled & eyes brimming red Lay Li is the only one I can talk to about The smell of hot ash & burned glass “You know what it looks like.” She stands up from the grass swinging her dry striped towel in the air “It looks like the walking dead.”

She lies so much she’ll make you believe rain is a color coming out the sky

This is how I learn to play not as big cause nobody got time for a girl outshining them.

It’s hard being friends with people When you are still figuring out who you are

A friend is someone seeing you & hearing you without you having to say everything Every time

“I’m sorry,” I start. “No. It’s okay. She seems really sad. My brothers stay dating girls like her. The kind of girl that needs others to be sad, so she feels better about herself. But you’re cool. You two are nothing alike.”

Everybody wants to be a hero, but most of us are just misunderstood villains.

Today is different Because I say it is mine The sky is mine My name is mine I am Sky & I got now