When you were in elementary school
no one told you about the black laws
of cause and effect. Your science teacher
failed to teach you about why a police
club struck against a black man's head
in the south results in a house burning
down in the north or how prejudice can
make a store clerk's smile turn into a
coldness below freezing. You often
wonder while waiting in line how you
can become invisible to every atom in
the world. You try to understand the
reason for your condition. All the
blues you know cannot defy gravity. All the
jazz you hear cannot keep you from
exploding like a star.