Boy, you can really chat
some fuckery Daddy told me
early & he didn’t tell no lie
imagine his surprise
when I told him he got it right
on his sixth try here I am
with my father’s face worn
well enough I guess skinny
as a whistle & jumbee ugly
on the inside vexed
left hungry & too lazy
to calm the growl
let me be ravaged
blood never trusted
Vaudevillain, Chitlin’ Circuit
or Cypherin’ with the gods
I was one hit away
When Needle meets Wax relentless
with our holy smoke lit tip
ode to the work wind does
one good gust got me gone
& right back still left leaning
Brian Francis is a Cave Canem fellow from New York City. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Creative Nonfiction and has an MFA in Poetry from NYU.