This is what they taught me:
bananas for monkeys,
grapes for kings,
beds for sex,
back of the class for sleep,
grown man with the giggles--gay,
life expectancy go down for a black boy after eight.
Issa double entendre.

Either way, 
this kind of world’ll make a kid sleepy
long before his time.
You can see the fruits of the loom, 
the way little boys die
over shoes, 
Gucci belts,
pride.

You know, 
bubbles used to be the move.
Smiles used to lift the mood.
Now, it's either get woke or shoot--
Option C'll make you a casualty
long before academics find the root beneath the noose.

Maybe they taught us wrong.
Maybe they were lost too.
Maybe that's just the world:
slow dancing to the devil's groove.

--No.109: False Teachers

Cover Photo by Hunter Newton on Unsplash