i’m from where the block talk back
where the sidewalk remember your name even if the city don’t
L tracks rattlin my thoughts loose
sirens remixing my childhood every night
learned numbers by counting who ain’t here no more
learned trust by who still nod when they pass
hands in pockets
eyes up
heart tucked somewhere safe
ain’t no straight lines where i’m from
just corners
and choices made fast
and prayers said faster
half finished
like “god if you”
then silence
i done seen love look like yelling
and safety look like a locked door
seen hope roll through in a stolen car
windows cracked
music too loud
like it ain’t scared of dying
they tell me leave the hood
like i ain’t built outta it
like the smell of rain on hot concrete
don’t live in my chest
like the dead don’t still text me in dreams
mama voice stay in my head
soft but sharp
“don’t let this place make you cold”
but damn
it get cold
so i talk
instead of explode
i rhyme
instead of reach
i bleed on the page
so i don’t bleed in the street
i’m not broken
i’m bent survival
i’m pain that learned vocabulary
i’m a future arguing with my past
in the mirror
every morning
chicago raised me
not gentle
but honest
and if i’m still here
breathing
standing
that’s the flex
that’s the verse
that’s the whole poem