Five Poems by Rin(don) Johnson

Author: Poetry Editor

February 14, 2016

This week, five poems from Rin Johnson’s Meet in the Corner.

SOMETHING I HAVE NOTICED:
RE: PASSING

I know when I am passing when certain women
give me more room on the street. They fan out
across the sidewalk as if to say with their
bodies: LOOK OUT BLACK MAN COMING THRU!

BLAKE, INCARCERATED

THE LOVERS?

UNPHASED!

FUCKING IN VENICE

I fucked this dancer in Venice buck naked on a
canal. She said the sex was so good she’d marry
me if I was rich. I told her I was rich. Sorry,
she said, she meant she’d marry me if I wasn’t
black.

I fucked her from behind after that. She had a
great ass.

~(ROUGHLY) I WAS JUST CHILLING
AND THEY THINK I WAS TRYING TO BREAK INTO A CAR

~I do believe they stereotype everyone in the neighborhood as being
guilty until proven Innocent~Being black on the streets is a crime
itself~One of the officers said he feared for his life during the
encounter with the teenager~But the suit does not describe his
reasons for being afraid~He used to wake up singing~He had a
routine~The routine stopped~It affected him tremendously~He did
not want to go outside~I’m sorry that this happened~but things like
this happen~

A CONFESSION: I AM SCARED TO HAVE KIDS

I am scared to have kids because what if I really
love them and want to be around them all the
time and they hate me and they don’t ever
want me around and they tell me that they
can never be their true selves around me and I
know this is true because I can hear them sigh
in relief and with joy when I leave the room that
they are in to go in to another room but I am in
that other room missing them because I really
love them and want to be around them all the time.

——

RIN(DON) JOHNSON is an artist and poet. Rin was born in San Francisco; now Rin lives in Brooklyn. Rin runs Imperial Matters with Sophia Le Fraga.