I.
   
  the classroom is half filled, with white students.
the room is half empty. the desks are new. there is a
playground downstairs. no uniforms. police sirens are
never heard through the classroom windows, cracked to
let just a little fresh air in. the students are not
on anti-depressants. the teachers own houses. there
are art supplies stacked in the middle of the room.
there are books on the shelves. there is toilet paper
in the bathrooms. soap and hot water for
everyone.
   
  no one is suspected of carrying a gun.
   
   
  II.
   
  there are not enough books for the children. the
children are adults. the children grow old too fast.
some of them sell drugs. some of them sell themselves.
some of them get high on violence.
   
  some of them do their homework. some of them are
going to college. some of their parents are sober.
   
  there are no trees left in this neighborhood.
concrete & trash. 40s hidden in brown paper. high boots, short
skirts. a 15-year-old hits his young girlfriend in the
head. in front of their friends. he hit her because
she didn’t have any more weed.
   
  III.
   
  the walls are covered in poems.