Saturday, November 22, 2014

"Negro Alert"

So I get to my truck
and it's ringing its bells
screaming alarms
and sounding like hell.

I asked this one guy
about what set it off
He said, "Negro Alert,"
and then gave a small cough.

I looked at this cat
like sayin', "Come, on dude,
I didn't ask 'cause you're black,
I wasn't trying to be rude."

Just look around
You can see I'm sincere.
I didn't ask 'cause you're black.
There's no-one else here.

He saw in my smile
I didn't think it was him
That's when it changed
and he flashed a big grin.

We'll both tell this story
perhaps go different ways
but there's truth in a smile
and what it can say.

It sounds pretty corny
that smiles heal big hurts
and one day they'll stop
these Negro Alerts.


(True story.  I modified it slightly as I didn't say anything.  The truck was making such an awful noise that I looked at him in embarrassment.  He said, "Negro Alert," and the rest is as it happened.)

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