Deliberate
POEM VIEWS: 9728
Amy Uyematsu (b. 1947) grew up in southern California. Her poetry grows out of the conflict between her wish to belong to the culture around her and . . . MORE »
Amy Uyematsu (b. 1947) grew up in southern California. Her poetry grows out of the conflict between her wish to belong to the culture around her and . . . MORE »
By Amy Uyematsu
So by sixteen we move in packs
learn to strut and slide
in deliberate lowdown rhythm
talk in a syn/co/pa/ted beat
because we want so bad
to be cool, never to be mistaken
for white, even when we leave
these rowdier L.A. streets—
remember how we paint our eyes
like gangsters
flash our legs in nylons
sassy black high heels
or two inch zippered boots
stack them by the door at night
next to Daddy’s muddy gardening shoes.
Amy Uyematsu, “Deliberate” from 30 Miles from J-Town. Copyright © 1992 by Amy Uyematsu. Reprinted with the permission of the author.