Saturday, May 23, 2015

Ode to the Midwest by Kevin Young


I want to be doused 
in cheese 

& fried. I want 
to wander 

the aisles, my heart's 
supermarket stocked high 

as cholesterol. I want to die 
wearing a sweatsuit— 

I want to live 
forever in a Christmas sweater, 

a teddy bear nursing 
off the front. I want to write 

a check in the express lane. 
I want to scrape 

my driveway clean 

myself, early, before 
anyone's awake— 

that'll put em to shame— 
I want to see what the sun 

sees before it tells 
the snow to go. I want to be 

the only black person I know. 

I want to throw 
out my back & not 

complain about it. 
I wanta drive 

two blocks. Why walk— 

I want love, n stuff— 

I want to cut 
my sutures myself. 

I want to jog 
down to the river 

& make it my bed— 

I want to walk 
its muddy banks 

& make me a withdrawal. 

I tried jumping in, 
found it frozen— 

I'll go home, I guess, 
to my rooms where the moon 

changes & shines 
like television.