flatbush, summer of ‘89

bee bee tee tee muffin
& butta
chillin on the hood
of a blue hooptie
googly-eyed zubida
goin in on some
clementines
     across the street
a gang of jews in
parochial white shirts
& black suits
a hasidic school
of fish zoomin up
ocean avenue &
here comes trouble
in hot pants & new
red jellies
little crystal
who has a penchant
for talkin fresh to
grown folk & gettin
slapped
chock-full with bright ideas
dares us to yell
hail hitler
     muffin asks what
it means
     crystal keeps quiet
a trick she learned
when her foster sister
took a hammer
to her cousin’s
head for snitchin
     he fell to his knees
howlin in red & white
striped pajamas
fell festive onto the
living room floor
it’s a wonderful life
goin in the vcr
     crystal hammers us
with silence
her secret weapon
wet cement poured
down our throats
     hail hitler
whoever say it gets
50 cents & a packa
sunflower seeds
     she hustles our greed
for silver & salt
but i know crystal hurts
people is a
wicked phlebotomist
digs into them
the way a toddler digs
into his baby sister
with such satisfaction
     butta takes the bait
a cloudburst of
hail hitlers fallin
on the jews
& everyone except crystal
hauls ass
without money or seeds
without knowin why

by Amber Atiya

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Amber Atiya, a queer poet and native Brooklynite, has performed at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, the Museum of Modern Art, and elsewhere. Her work has appeared in Kweli Journal, Tribes Magazine, and Drunken Boat. She is a 2012 Poets House Emerging Poets Fellow and member of a women’s writing group celebrating 11 years and counting.