Colours

He wears colours

Stuffs bandanas into pockets
As a Blood-
Red
Symbol of brotherhood

His colours are his neighbourhood flag
A way to earn a reputation
In this nation of miscegenation
And miseducation

He wears colours
They are the key to sealed-off streets
The road to head-nod approval
And the future?
Only weary-eyed adults talk of the future
Like a warning, a threat of things to come
But they are grey and he is young

So he wears colours
For definition
Because uniform ties are not enough
They choke his neck and steal his cred
But paisley cloth
Turns heads

And he'll be draped in those same colours
When he's dead.