business goes on as usual

Juan Miguel Torres

i’m lying on my back
staring at the cracks in the ceiling
listening to roberta flack
and in the background
shouts and screams
of black and puerto rican kids
my lady
she sings
do what you gotta do
and before that
she turns me on
talking about the woman
who put down
reverend lee
and in the background
shouts and screams
of black and puerto rican kids
the songs go away
but the kids stay on
telling me stories of my past
thirsting for water
to cool their bodies
but instead
hitting back alleys
doing it like reverend lee
my lady sings the impossible dream
and ends it
with
business goes on as usual