Assuming Savage, II
By C.M.Burroughs

Flour moth in lush lush (y' hear?)
yard. White a-quaint-ant asks if

                        you Need something?

I am Black. I am
reaching into my coat
(Below Coats) for cash.

This hello, how are you--
dialect--- is strange fruit. It is
plum-black/broke blood-- fine.
I'm fine. And you?

           (without answer without
                                        pause) Do You Need Something

           Punctuated (marked) by visioning My hand in her
           man's (my friend's) coat-- My hand gripping his

           (b)ills-- I'm getting some

cash, I say.    From my boyfriend's coat?

look.

My coat (MY)   is here--

look.

                 (smile) oh (smile) sorry (smile grimace)

                 I'm sorry. It's just that my best friend's wallet was stolen last week, so--

So
So… (LOOK)

I'm just apologizing--


just adj. 1, right in law or ethics: 2, fair-minded; good in intention; impartial: I'm just-- :4, in correct accordance with a standard
                                 (look.)

Copyright C.M.Burroughs. Used with the permission of the author.

C.M.Burroughs hails from Atlanta, Georgia, but currently resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is a fellow of both Cave Canem and Callaloo. She has recently completed her first manuscript. Her poems have been published in Wabash Review, Curbside Review, the Only the Sea Keeps Anthology, Cave Canem IX, Gathering Ground, and most recently Texas Poetry Journal.

Copyright © 1997-2006 by Cave Canem Foundation, Inc.

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