Who is it that driving what appears to be a miniature mobile home or what most of us call a grocery cart? The appearance of him is reminiscent of what's chasing people in their childhood dreams; a shadowy figure that just keeps on moving seemingly in slow motion. No matter how slow he moves, he can be seen all over the city. This is that old dude sitting in the back of the project hallway. He is going through the trash, past the food and the empty crack vials just to find something to wrap up in; perhaps some clothes scraps of little children. Nobody walks past him to get to their apartment, they would rather take the fire escape because it is unclear whether he can be trusted.
This is the same dude with the scraggly beard in the back of the bus. “It's Fraaayesh...They sho is” He says, as he is observed talking to the remaining pieces of someones grinder sandwhich. It doesn't matter whether he has food stamps, bottles and cans or one hundred dollars; He is getting kicked out of the store. Just to eat he crashed the cookouts, family reunions and even funerals. Brotha is just sitting there telling a story in his own language. It sounds like he is speaking E-Z Wider dipped in Heineken and when that starts to make sense he puts a quayloode accent to it.
He can be spotted from far away just by looking for the military surplus jacket that he wears over some of the clothes that get “borrowed” from the Goodwill Store dumpster. Is that jacket really green or is so dirty that it is beginning to seed. He has arthritis, a lazy eye, slipped discs in his back.
Open toe shoes are in style for many but for brotha man they are all that is left his once spit shined general issue. Underneath that do-rag/ winter wool hat is there hair or not? Is it just stuffed with the thoughts of life's wisdom like the scarecrow that Michael Jackson played in “The Wiz”?
One earing or shining wax in his ear; He's musty and apparently he don't care about staying in the warmth of a shelter because he won't wash for any agency. He's always hollering at the police, “YAW AIN'T SHIT!” The cops won't touch him, they can't touch him because they know him. Everyone in this city knows who he is. Some would say that he is an angel in disguise and some with a guilty conscience would fear that he is Jesus come to earth. He is not an angel or Jesus, but he is a messenger from the almighty sent to weigh the hearts of humanity. He at one time was a savior, in a sense, for the world.
This is “Bruh Man” and this is his song:
He tries to GET MONEY and the VA won't fund him
He came back from overseas and society shunned him.
You support your troops but get mad when he poops in public
He joined the army after 9-11 when everyone loved it.
Living off the land and dining in garbage cans
Who ever thought their little boy would grow up to be that kind of man.
Enjoy your day and please don't feel bad
But think about the US citizens whose mind is still in Baghdad.
2 comments:
It's strong, it's in your face, it can't be denied, and it is what it is without argument or qualification. Nothing I or anyone else could do or would want to do with it except read it a few times and enjoy it where it can be enjoyed for the sheer writing power of it and then not enjoy it when that same power makes you feel like shit for just the way of things.
I mean I'd hate to offer Engteach type remarks--I have no standing to offer them. By 'no standing,' I don't mean: "Ooh, Marlon's in that other world, not my world, I can't comment."
Not that at all--something else. It's the writing. Sometimes the best thing I do is not dream of touching or picking over or messing with or even commenting specifically on someone else's vision, passion, and strength. This is one of those cases.
It pleases me more than you will ever know when a student uses my assignment to do something much better than I could ever dream up. This still isn't a character study, and thank god for that because it's something better, and something I don't have an easy name for.
It humbles me, makes me ashamed a little, to see my assignment next to your self-assignment.
Thank you for your encouragement with this assignment.
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