the fossil record
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Liking Chicago
The man says he likes buildings so cold
they could be monuments, these stone and brick
souvenirs. I brought them
all the way from the east, but I知 not happy
with faces, the way the river turns its blue scarf
the wrong way and enters under streets.
I知 not in love with the dead, just wanting
to traffic with a bell hop who won稚 gyp me
when I ask to climb a staircase been closed for years.
I知 the one tipping,
the one who値l lay with her face to the wall for three decades
not ready to answer their curses and threats.
The El was running up above us on a track
crowded with bodies. Venita Robins traded her body in
and went wrong according to legend.
It痴 all local, the man who likes a city
he ate in, the restaurant that closed down for Farrakhan
and stayed open for him.
I知 not opposed to races, just want to make sure
when the dogs leave the stadium the bone they follow
tastes like meat, smells right, looks good
to foreigners who watch me in my short tight skirt
as I trip down three flights to avoid a ride
in the metal cell that rises and falls
at the push of a button, carrying my cuteness, my tapestry
luggage and all that other crap I never needed anyway.