Dedicated with love to my parents Lawrence and Arlene Sukenic who grew up in Detroit May their memory be for a blessing
Detroit Michigan Friday June 16 1967
The last day of school I can barely hear Mrs Murphy telling us to mail our poems for the city’s Spirit of Detroit Poetry Contest The classroom ceiling fan spins round and round the whir isn’t soft it’s a fast twirling sound like the cards that Ceci and I put on our bike spokes She passes out envelopes to write our addresses I pause pencil to envelope and take a breath hold the pencil tight and write Georgia Johnson 18983 Whitcomb Detroit 48227 Aunt Birdie’s address not mine I start to sweat not because I am on the third floor on a hot day in the middle of June at Rutherford Elementary School I know the rules even though Mrs Murphy reads them aloud again All poets must live in Detroit to win I am starting a lie but I don’t care My parents are making us move to the suburbs I keep asking why but they won’t tell me They are taking me too far from
who I know too far to walk back here I want to stay stuck in time like a movie in slow motion Next year my friends will go to junior high in Detroit I won’t be in class with my best friend Ceci for the first time ever Mrs Murphy says Gwendolyn Brooks will choose the winning poem and the winner will receive a letter in July Her words sound distant like they are moving through water Remember how we read Bronzeville Boys and Girls and learned to write like real poets Mrs Murphy places her hand on my shoulder Especially you Georgia I don’t want to be called teacher’s pet so I barely look up Don’t forget to drop your entries in the mailbox She’s telling us to have a wonderful summer The word wonderful and my life don’t mix The worst part is that when my older brother Ty comes back from Vietnam he will never live in our old house again
