Chicagoetry: The Great White Dope

The Great White Dope

We collude in a conspiracy of silence.
We intrude on the poor, demanding coke.
The Children's Crusade to re-take Humboldt Park

Commemorated the dead. For every line we do,
A bullet blasts into an innocent child's brain.
But not in Barrington. For every line we do,

A poor family is destroyed. Not in Naperville,
Glenwood or Homewood-Flossmoor, where the children
Do more blow than we want to know.

Their parents have jobs, after all, bills to pay,
Antiques to collect, time-consuming affairs
With neighbors to conduct, this kind of thing.

Hey, raising kids right is really hard!
Sometimes you wanna party. I get it.
Sometimes you wanna party!

I think now of the Dylan Klebold's BMW . . .
Perhaps he just needed more Ritalin.
It's hard to raise kids right.

Sweep the schools. The richer the suburb,
The more drugs you'll find there. Shucks,
I must be one ANGRY DUDE! Mercy!

Hey, you guys, just forget I said anything.
I'm just a lonely, bitter, failed malcontent
So you can just write me off and carry on. Besides,

The Drug War, one of the funniest, most self-affirming
fantasy series on TV comes on shortly so I can just
chill out to that. Hey, you guys, just forget I said

anything! Have a nice party! I know how
tough it can be to maintain a pastoral façade.
Maybe I'll see you after the next local funeral.

We'll party.

-

J. J. Tindall is the Beachwood's poet-in-residence. He can reached at jjtindall@yahoo.com. Chicagoetry is an exclusive Beachwood collection-in-progress.

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