Bell Canto
For Sean Bell and Family

by Derrick Weston Brown, Wisdom Teeth

Your mind wants to believe
it was a misunderstanding.

The officers were scared rookies.
It was dark.

But truth suffers no allowances.

Spread out before you are snatches of
eye-witness accounts in print.  The grainy footage
of gun butts tempering jaws; the swollen voice of
the fiancee.

This is a different type of jilting; no story
of a runaway bride found with thawing feet,
and no sign of her imagined Latino abductor.

No.  You don’t want to believe this.
Your mind is tired of “Again”

This happens.
Same city.
Same son.
Same make and model.
Same implied threat empty hands carry.
Same text book response.
Same salvo.
Same torrential rain of shell casings
musing a Bell.

Clip emptied.

Reload

Your mind is a busted reel
of images; that officer from grade school
who never wore his gun around the students.

Reload

The stories you ghosted
from the barber’s chair;
regulation choke holds
boot heels on testicles
a nightstick renovating a ribcage

Reload

The white boy in 10th grade
who caught a cafeteria tray to the head
for Rodney King in ‘92

The forearm planted in
your chest from the
officer who didn’t
care to hear your explanation
for arriving late to a sold out
ball game even though you
bought tickets in advance.

His words
“No admittance”
mean more now than then.

You use this as your caption
to narrate the picture
of the the uniformed triggerman in the photo
silent unblinking
hands hidden
behind their backs
at ease
acquitted.

Your mind wants for a
parable, a moral
and there isn’t one.

PHOTO 2024 02 01 07 10 14

For Langston Hughes on His 123 Birthday

Speech given on February 1, 2024 in Havana, Cuba In 1927 Langston Hughes walked into a Cuba amid an emerging community of artists, intellectuals, and radicals.  He saw a “sunrise in a new land [– a day – in his words]sic – full of brownskin surprises, and hitherto unknown contacts in a world of color.”  … Continued

PALESTINE WEEK 1920 x 1080 px 2

Palestine Week 2024

January 18, 2024 – January 25, 2024 In keeping with our ongoing mission of uplifting racial and cultural connections, Busboys and Poets is hosting Palestine Week (January 18 through January 25, 2024). This week-long series of events will offer a diverse range of programming featuring Palestinian food, music, dance, poetry, discussions, and other enriching events. … Continued

158541371 10157993997262555 2614716326716973713 n

Everest Base Camp #16

Holy tea on top of the mountain I am awake and somewhat refreshed and ready to take on today’s challenge. Big climbs don’t stress me out. Not anymore. I have a new menace. Lack of oxygen. Today this menace will be tested. On the way to Dengboche. At 14,500 feet. I am sitting with Dawa … Continued

Busboys in En Route Traveler

Busboys in En Route Traveler

“Part of the reason why I founded this place was that I wanted a space that feels like home away from home, a space that represents the multi-cultural, multi ethnic, multi-racial, and multi-age aspects of the city, a space that represents the city that I live in – Washington, DC.” – Andy Shallal

Busboys and Poets Books Recommendations: Women’s History Month

Busboys and Poets Books Recommendations: Women’s History Month

It’s Women’s History Month and you might be feeling a little overwhelmed. After all, women have been around for a while and have been doing awesome things just as long – how can you figure out which awesome book to read next? Well have no fear, Busboys and Poets Books has you covered – just … Continued