KING AND STORY COLLAGE

I come from a place where
the sun bakes the air into a dry heat
where the black asphalt
radiates its oil smell
and warms bare feet

I come from a place where
the rhythm is
slow motion
oppressively dense
and openly fast

I come from a place where
Miller Elementary School
is across the street
from Dave's Adult Bookstore,
which is adjacent to
Dick's Supermarket,
where signs proclaiming
the illegality of
cruising
are spray painted red
with the words
Free Angela Davis

I come from a place where
Andy, a confused white guy
who owns a hydraulic shop,
is preached to by
Father Mateo,
another confused white guy,
liberation theology
in a church where
liberation means
buying beans

I come from a place of
hot laughter, cool
Newberry specials,
Overfelt High School,
suffocating sadness, smooth smiles,
green/brown hills,
bumpy roads, day labor
and a place where Blanca
rats her hair big and tall