Too smart

Caught between a stone and a bottle, we all three shattered

under the streetlight with a single “preeeen!” that snubbed me

like some bitter relative sputtering final outtakes in the morgue

where you can speak a mind that doesn’t cave in under the pressure

of brass attached to anger attached to impulsivity that captures me

under the streetlight with a single scream that snubbed me.

I am just sensitive enough to read the Giemsa on the concrete that night

but too smart to fight back.