Taking a breath….you a lucky one

You went out to eat where? And you don’t rap or sell drugs?

You a lucky one

I look out my window before I go to school

All these darn precautions

I wish I went to hell and back… I would’ve finally got to relax

The city I live in infamous

Chiraq, Chitown, Chi Ghanistan, Chicago

Where we put the 45 to your chest like Jordan was coming back

We like fast lanes, the far left, make the fastest cash

If we can’t get what we want from you- we hit where it hurts, light your house with red dots like it had a rash

We unclean in the spots where Badu didn’t do nothin

We dirty in the area where nobody swept the area

Chiraq means we shoot people or sum?

Chiraq means we got guns SO BIG, we kick the trigger to make it shoot?

Chiraq street so dirty we get sanitation donations from South Harlem?

I’m tryna live for a better cause-you know?

Like when I grow up I wanna be part of the CP- wait no…a fire fighter

No not that either, I’m tired of fighting fire, my uncle fight fire all the time…well with fire and he rarely get paid and when he do get paid it’s in forms of long scars and slug bruises

I’m tryna be something in life like… a psychologist cuz I wanna see what somebody else’s life like

Get inside my victims- I mean patient’s head to sympathize

Find out their dog died, and I smack em around and tell me how much I want their life

Chicago is not entirely bad

Chicago is that one fine girl friend with bad habits

I take Ms. Chicago out to dinner, and I pay the bill

She orders a fine tall glass of her favorite

And then she stares in my eyes….and belches, right in front of me

Just rude

© Taylor Knight

Sometimes I wanna just walk away from the table

Whenever she belches a brother dies

Whenever she belches she is the host of another tragedy

She magically adapts to another one of our tragedies

She actually makes it tolerable, not accepted

I wrote a poem about Chicago, she was listening, but it’s hard to get her to sympathize sometimes

I- wanna be something greater than, I’m tryna live for a greater cause

I’ll take action…as soon as I find reason to

See what Ms. Chicago will do to you

So tell me again…. Chiraq mean we got gangs that make terrorist look well behaved?

Have you heard the tales? Be them tall?

Let me guess, you heard that our automatics are SO AUTOMATIC that they get up and shoot by themselves?

Or wait, did you hear that our side eyes put people in a coma?

I don’t care whatchu heard, I ain’t no run o’ the mill Chicagoan, Chiraqian, or Chi folk

I’m lookin to live for a better cause cuz I’m tryna live above the status quote

I wanna be a chef when I grow up, so I can

Craft what I would like

I took Ms.Chicago out to dinner the other day…she’s fine…we gazed into each other’s eyes

She looked right in my eye…and let one go

My brother got shot

CWP