brash talk on sidewalk
brethren to irreverence
short teeth long stories
~
aspirations high
rolling tape decks tweeters six
by nine speakers deep
~
joyride profiles boom
down sto:lo street thump lean ass
out brwrwaa car window
~
ancient customs scratch
custom stereos banghra
remix jacks be real
check out the story to the
glory of the real estate
~
front stairs bringing down
property value this skin
a cost we bear loud
to three generation base-
ment epithets we remain
true some of you gon'
die on these streets before you
ask what's under them
Hari Alluri, "area boys," from Carving Ashes. Copyright © 2013 by Hari Alluri. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Source: Carving Ashes (CiCAC/Thompson Rivers Press, 2013)
