At My First Punk Show Ever, 1998

me & tyler jump into the pit head first even though four older boys got patches that say NO BLACKS & NO QUEERS & between us I guess we got both those covered cuz I flinch & throw my hands over my head when the drum kicks too sharp & I don’t know what could be more black than that & tyler don’t know it but in an alley last month I saw him build a church in the mouth of a boy from cross town who don’t talk to nobody & don’t come ‘round the hood unless he thirsty for a tithe but we up in the pit anyway ‘cuz it ain’t the 70’s anymore what I mean is there ain’t a war always on television what I mean is we came here to see blood like all boys who sneak past their sleeping fathers & crawl out of windows before running into the night with ripped jeans & ain’t all blood the same when bodies get hurled like they in a cheap amusement park ride & some blond girl from bexley gets slick & tries to sneak into the rampage but not before tyler & some other boy grab her by the collar & toss her smooth out & then they high five & through the guitar bending over our heads like an umbrella I hear tyler whisper some things are just unacceptable & then his whole body begins to shake & I tell myself it can only be laughter