For East Harlem Summer '67

FOR EAST HARLEM SUMMER '67

to wreck the store you buy your wears in

to feel & see the glass bouncing off the ground

to see & feel those things

later defining points

bad & points good this

shit & that idea

the idea of familiar streets friends of yours

ripped someone out of his cage someone some punks

the papers said some punks some friends of mine

with scars from 1959 with holes in the veins

from 1963 with sons & daughters with mothers

save in the projects some old men lifting their

arms for the first time in years grand pops i

say i saw grand pops you punks

trying to burn down gas stations why you

should be shame

of yourself

trying to overturn innocent parked cars

why you should

hide your face

smashing bottles against the precinct walls

why you would

jail yourself

throwing gasoline bombs

why you should pray for now on

knocking the ground off its legs like that

breaking the A&P & taking milk & oven golden

sliced bread Hunts Tomato Sauce Coca Cola

bottles you late threw at your friendly police

you were drunk the papers said drunk teen-agers

who had no jobs winos who ran up a block one

punk had a bow & arrow two punks with rifles

sitting by garbage cans ready to be aimed & fired

at the friendly police a girl punk going in

front of the cops & yelling telling them to

kiss her ass you dumb racist gringo you

worst then devils you think you bad with those

big guns the girl punk with a sore throat was

carried away by friends the night exploding.

the papers said you were drunk

BUT WE KNOW WE WERE HIGH.

August 5, 1967

Victor Hernandez Cruz