HOW BLACK ARE YOU? #8
I’m gonna offend a lot of white people,
but damn ya’ll stupid when it comes to ghost shit.
Got nice, proper white people
being smart, dodgin’ lawsuits
left and right like LeBron James breakin’ ankles.
But the second shit get spooky,
the second that some little bitch
want to climb out of TVs,
ya’ll want to start actin’ like you ain’t got no sense.
White women,
KICK OFF YA DAMN HEELS.
You got Jason rising from the grave like Jesus,
and you afraid to mess up your pedicure.
And why the fuck does every white person
want to investigate some shit?
Like Scooby-Doo and the gang
trying to solve a damn mystery.
Demons possessing your son?
Leave his ass.
Have another one and live, white people.
For God sake live.
Do you see black people fuckin’
with ghost shit?
Do you see our asses getting dragged to hell?
You don’t.
But we still get killed first ’cause our stupid
asses is trying to warn our white people.
“No, Mr. White Man, don’t go in there.”
Next thing you know, we dead
because we actually care about motherfuckers.
White people, be kind to your black people.
Don’t make them do ghost shit.
—from Rattle #67, Spring 2020
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Dondre Scott: “During the senior year of my college career my professor challenged us to create a chapbook that represented our unique poetic voice. Having no idea what that meant I decided to just write what I knew best. ‘How Black Are You #8’ was based on popular horror tropes and my own iron-clad rule to not mess around with ghost shit.”
