What Jazz Said to Black Boy

Written By amani smith

by Kyle “Atlas” Flemings

see you black boy
heard yo father an off beat
he aint never taught you how to read music

nobody took the time
to tune you
a freestyle
learned to swing around pain
til it became your instrument of choice
distortion
a primary love language

better be careful

becoming a full spectrum of sound
you know
they like you
only
feeling
blues

Atlas is a Spoken Word Artist out of Dayton Ohio. He is a co-founder of Underdog Academy, a collective of poets in Central Ohio. He is also a creative writing teacher at a high school in Dayton.

amani smith
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