one year
a naked white guy
parked his car
by our elementary school
kids called him
The Nude Dude and laughed
when they told the story
i didn’t believe it
because i was
on the honor roll
until the afternoon
he hopped at me
all pink and sweaty
and asked me
little girl
have you ever seen
a white mans pride
and i replied oh
yes sir many times
many times
from The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton: 1965-2010Find it in the library
Copyright © BOA Editions, Ltd 2012
Used with the permission of The Permissions Company, Inc.
on behalf of BOA Editions LTD.