It's 1998 and I'm ten,
crunching mouthfuls of m&ms,
Twizzlers and some Zours with my friends
watching Rush Hour in the Cineplex,
we were in stitches giggling
Pretty much from the title right up until the end.
A couple scenes had stuck with me,
including the snippet when Jackie Chan
had said some word beginning with an N
And then the dude in the clip got super pissed
and They had the fight doing cool moves with the pool sticks
At that we at that we laughed
Returned to school sincerely happy to have some
Gags to share during and after lunch foolish,
Class clowns just acting dumb trying to be cool kids,
Recess that Monday at Jericho elementary was treated like a talent show,
We ran up to every kid on the field Reciting classic knee slapping quotes,
Especially the one with the "N" word, hadn't known
what it meant sure but we laughed like dopes.
Got outta recess and the teach' was in a bad mood
hollered my name I was grabbed rudely by the collar,
enraged, she dragged me to the doorway
and who's that classmate standing ashamed in the hallway
But one of rare few black students,
Tears cascading down his cheeks,
I asked why she had been so mean
when forming this sad group and why we had to meet!?
The teacher scowled incredulous
Asking if I had said some crass expletive
That I'd like to say "sorry" for,
Ingenuous,
I asked if they could clarify or
Help me understand the crime I was called outside for
(All the while he just sobbed and cried more)
He recalled the story of our exchange, eyes sore,
when I repeated the Rush Hour line of course
(The one with the N mystery)
I didn't get it so I said this and
Timidly admitted I quoted it indiscriminately,
and no one else exhibited misery,
then they Explained the significance to me.
I felt like a troglodyte,
Honest, I apologized which moderately mollified his melancholy solemn eyes,
I walked inside locking eyes on the hard tile floor horrified and unnerved
With sickened wonder
That my soft and bright tongue turned on me
and could do so much hurt with one word.
And with the bane of ignorance
I tainted that little kid,
Our exchange gave him
His first racist experience
And I wonder decades later
How it resonates across the years he's lived.