Jean Michel Basquiat In Front of One of His Paintings

CITY-AS-SCHOOL
by Kevin Young

Day-trips
in Washington Sq
Park, dropping

out--STONED
ON SAMO. Two hits
of acid a day

& each night
his father Gerard
worrying. Searches

the weeks high
& low. Finds his son
deep in a dice

game wit God.
Blood
shot. Drags Basquiat

like a cigarette
back to Bklyn
to his high school

in the city--
"Papa I'll be very very
famous one day"

delirious Basquiat
declares. Hard
headed, mama's boy,

spleenless--
on a double
dare from Al Diaz,

fills a box with Papa's
shaving cream,
at graduation giving

Principal a white face
full of menthol.
NO POINT

IN GOING BAK--smart
ass Basquiat empties
his locker, heads

for the big city
with Papa's cash
loan. GOOD PLACE

FOR A HANDOUT.
EASY MARK
SUCKER. Surviving

CHILD WITH SEED OF LIFE--
knows only ow to move
forward like a shark

or an 8-track, going
out of style. For broke.
PLUSH SAFE HE THINK:

Only the good
die numb--Bird
& Billie & Jimi

& Jesus--
his heroes
crowned

like a tooth.
GOLD WOOD.
Basquiat begins

with hisself, writes
FAMOUS
NEGRO ATHLETES

on downtown walls,
spraying SAMO
across SoHo--

"royalty, hroism
& the streets"--
covering galleries

with AARON
& OLD TIN. ORIGIN
OF COTTON. NO

MUNDANE OPTIONS.


I will admit, as of right now, I am still in the process of dissecting this poem. A small amount of research helped me to figure out that "CITY-AS-SCHOOL," the title of Kevin Young's poem, is not in reference to one of Jean Michel Basquiat's paintings. However, the title is referring to the high school Basquiat's attended in his home state, New York (City-As-School Location). Therefore, this poem is not ekphrastic, as I thought it was, but it is biographical. With that said,