Joe-Joe
by Shane Allison


I wasn't as flamboyant as him.
He didn't have a chance, switching
Like Mae West down enclosed hallways,
The student parking lot.

Brothas were tuffa than Wesley Snipes.
"Faggot" often shot from their mouths
Sticking into tender flesh of men like me.
He only hung out with girls.

He dropped out of school cuz he could only take so much.
Years later, while Ma was preparing spaghetti,
She said Joe-Joe died of AIDS.
But he died long before that.





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