| ZYGOTE IN MY COFFEE.COM |
| ***BIO*** Anthony Liccione lives in Texas, but his heart resides in New York. His poetry has appeared in Indite Circle, Gloom Cupboard, Mastodon Dentist, Paper Wall, Locust Magazine, Straight From the Fridge, Great Works, Lucid Rhythms, Death Metal Poetry and others. His latest book Please Pass Me, the Blood & Butter is available at Lulu. |
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| © 2008 zygoteinmycoffee Ink. |
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| Yo Mama |
| by Anthony Liccione |
| "Yo mama
is so poor, she can’t even pay attention," sits ringing in my eighth grade ears-- how sad and true this was I thought, my foster mother at the grocery store limited to the items she can put into the shopping cart, and at the checkout lane, my face dropping to the floor, when she brought out the food stamps to pay, I always thought I had something to do at that point, go return a shopping cart, use the bathroom, wipe their windows clean of fingerprints, anything but stand there in line and count out each stamp, like pennies long and patient. Of course, I retorted back, "oh yea, well yo mama is so black when she goes to night school, the teacher marks her absent." And at that point a right fist came lunging to my eye, and the sudden flash of light in the back of my mind, fired up stars. All the kids stood on the lunchroom benches and chairs, throwing chili and corn- cobs around, yelling "fight, fight, fight" quickly the blacks backed up his side and the whitees mine, and the swings that kept missing and hitting, the kids yet jeering of our headlocks and sissy kicks, until lunch ladies stepped in with their latex gloves and hairnets. Twenty-five years ago that was, and still I hear the yo mama jokes being passed around when I go to pick up my son at his school. Only now "nigga" is an acceptable trait in the vocabulary language today, white boys trying to be hip in the suburb schools. I hear a snot-nosed kid with his cap on backwards and the waist of his jeans down to his ass, "Nigga, yo mama...," and we drive off, I come up with one under breath, "is like a doorknob... everyone takes their turn with her." Or some shit like that. |
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| May 2008 |
| 106 |