[Spoken Word]

On a hot summer night

You asked me

What it was that I knew

"About what?," I replied

"About anything, really", you told me

"What do I know?"

Well I know

My Neighborhood

Back of the Yards

And the dead friendships

That come along with it

The coffeehouse that used to be

An abandoned building

The school

That used to be a junkyard

The gangs

The shootings

And the catholic churches

My childhood home

And the bittersweet memories

That come from it

To think I had

Such good times here

But also really bad times

The children playing outside

Of their homes

On the street

On a hot summer day

The time I cried on the way home

For any reason at all

Rejection

Hatred

Or anything of the like

Walking with my love

Down 47th St

Feeling that they'd be with me forever

And having an anxiety attack on 48th St