by Tiffany Chimaroké
(© 2001. No portion of this essay, text or image, may be reproduced without author's consent.)

It’s up in the air
Like blue smoke
Warning the town
My city overflowed
By trash filled gullies
Crowded graffiti alley-ways
Black and grey air pollution
My city is on fire
Blue fire-with blue smoke
Acid rain and pregnant girls
Pushing thousands of strollers
Youth charged as adults
Tried and passed
Accepted into pre-meditated
Institutions-for money
Ghettos full with culture
People raced to get in line
For free cheese
Free police brutality
Free police harassment
Schools and education put
On hold
Youth scattered without
Mentors
On hold for matches
Which determine
Whether or not
My city burns
For money
For what is new
And youth are up in the air
Like blue smoke
Warning the town
And my city overflowed.