Leaving Milwaukee
on the corner of my block
is a gas station
an island in a sea
of traffic and accidents waiting to happen
life shuffles pass me
as I crawl from my front stoop
to this convenience store/petroleum refueling place
for Newports, cigarillos and ginger ale
confronted with my neighbors
girls with hair glued to their forehead
dingy school children
with snot and unrecognized potential
crusting on their faces
a homeless beggar
looking all Charlie Chaplin
running from car to car
asking for scraps of paper to fill his belly with
cars like statues
of status symbols
radios turn to the key
“turn that shit thee fuck down”
blaring expletives jumbled
it is then I am reminded
I HAVE TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF MILWAUKEE
there is a bill that purposes
we allow people
to raise chickens inside city limits
in one of Americas
moderate sized metropolises
actual fucking chickens
like I live in Mayberry
like piggly wiggly, and pick and save
don’t carry enough
Gospel Bird to feed everyone
I swear if your chicken is crossing
my road you won’t have to ask
why?
easy answer
he was suicidal
there is a liquor store
near every lamp post
a store front church
at every intersection
and enough poverty
to make our children
hurl themselves at vehicles
during the State Fair
we have meetings
constantly
educators, students, politicians, civic leaders
to discuss what we were discussing last time we
had discussion during an organizational meeting
formed to discus some bullshit we were arguing about
of all this talking
have grown tired
planning and networking
have grown frustrated
if I go to one more got-damn meeting
with the same ole people talking about
the exact same shit
I am calling a press conference to announce
I HAVE TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF MILWAUKEE
the lakefront
from Bradford beach to the marina
no longer a family destination
unless your family is full of strippers
and drug addicts
which may be the case
considering this city's rich
ethnic history
Festivals all summer long
and in the winter it is cold enough
to store your food out of doors
We love the Green Bay Packers here
though they are from Green Bay
The Bucks haven’t won a championship
since the year of my birth
and though the Brewers
have just begun
the practice of victory
I am not sure they ever have won anything
Dead Beat daddies out number husbands
but I am assuming that is a national problem
and there are black men here
who still wear
jerri curls and finger waves
which reminds me
I HAVE TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF MILWAUKEE
when traveling
we identify our self
by our proximity to Chicago
have erected a statue
downtown to a historical figure
from Milwaukee
Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli
that’s right
the FONZ
not Henry Winkler
who happens
to be from New York
but the fictional character
that he portrayed
in a 70’s sitcom
the Millers,
the Coggs family
hell Oprah spent her formative years here…
and we build a statue to honor
a fictitious personality
right downtown for all to see…
I HAVE TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF MILWAUKEE
Jeffery Dahmer
don’t get me started
on Jeffery Dahmer
and my constant need to defend
Milwaukee on my travels
“no the white people here
don’t eat black people”
not usually at least
we don’t have cows
walking down the street
and I have never
danced the Polka once
though admittedly
I have seen it preformed
Home is where the heart is
and from Appleton to Riverwest
flows my blood
I know the swift rush of adrenaline
when you round that last turn
see the clock tower and twin smoke stacks
as you close in on Milwaukee’s horizon
I was born here,
for all her racism
for all her cowardice
for all her filthy edges
I love her,
but soon real soon…
I have to get the FUCK OUT OF MILWAUKEE!
Mario Willis
