Yolanda Wisher
I trace your letters,
The "b" to the "l"
To the "u"—Heard you was a bus
Boy so I don’t fret the after
School shift at Lonnie’s
Between breaks. I
Make you a youngblood.
Love you.Irene says you’re a light
Bright wouldn’t dig my red
Bone tones, my poems ‘bout
Harlem. But I make you a young
Blood. Sequined dress, beaded
Straps—the toughest streets
Become ballads as you walk
Them with me. Your words,
Blooming out the mouths
Of high school boys
Like rap.
Yolanda Wisher received her B.A. in English and Black Studies from Lafayette College and is working on her M.A. in poetry at Temple. She is the 1999 Montgomery County Poet Laureate and coordinator of Poetry for the People, a community arts collective that hosts public poetry performances.