No Left Turn

He screamed at me for over an hour
through broken teeth
(we graduated from high school the same year)
showering me with bits of Cheetos
laying out a diatribe of discrimination
condemning me and all the other
white bitches for the help we
failed to deliver.

I ask him if he thinks maybe he had some role
in not getting the help he so swiftly and vociferously
rejects in a hail of insults and dismissals.

Listen, motherfucker
I got the devil and angel thing going on
on my shoulders, and I'm about to go left

Really, part of me is looking at you
for an excuse to go left, even though
I'm trying to go right.

Now the brother speaks true,
and for a moment,
we're both real.