Reginald Dwayne Betts's "Parking Lot, Too" spins variations on its opening: "A confession began when I walked out of that parking lot." A confession is a story about a sin or a crime, but this confession begins before there's a story. The first variation adds one word: "A confession began when I walked Black out of that parking lot." The image of someone "walking while Black" connects to racial profiling, and soon he "meets the description of the suspect" – a theme in cases of mistaken identity in police investigations. In the poem's further variations, Blacks are repeatedly made into suspects even in everyday scenes of "walking out of a parking lot." (Andrew Shields, #111words, 16 November)
[More on the poem in the next post.]
Parking Lot, Too
Reginald Dwayne Betts, Felon, 2019
A confession began when I walked out of that parking lot.
A confession began when I walked Black out of that parking lot.
A confession began when I, without combing my hair, dressed
For a day that would find me walking out of that parking lot.
There is so much to be said of a Black man with unkempt hair:
He meets the description of the suspect; suspect is running.
I ran away think from things far less frightening than the police.
A confession began when I robed myself in black. A confession
Began when I walked out of that parking lot wearing a black
Hoodie. Things get exponentially worse when a hoodie is pulled
Over my unkempt air. A confession began when I walked out
Of that parking lot Black. A confession began when I walked
Out of that parking lot a Negro. A confession begins when
That nigga walked into the parking lot. A confession begins
With that nigga and the pistol he carries like a dick walked
Into that parking lot. A confession begins when everything you
See him doing is seen as sex. A confession begins when
That nigga walked into a parking lot & drove away with everything
Belonging to that white man. A confession begins when
My mother laid up with a man the complexion of that nigga's
Daddy. A confession begins with my mother births a child
In a city close enough to make me & that nigga almost related.
A confession begins when the police perceive us as one. We must
Be one. He could not have walked in & driven out & I walked
In & walked out on the same night & whatever gaps in the story
& slight differences in the features of our faces was just
More evidence that niggers will lie. The confession begins even if
I didn't have the fucking car. A confession begins, my confession
Began, with a woman stitching stars and stripes into a flag.
<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073732485 9 0 511 0;} @font-face {font-family:Baskerville; panose-1:2 2 5 2 7 4 1 2 3 3; mso-font-alt:Baskerville; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-2147483545 33554432 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman \(Body CS\)"; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-alt:"Times New Roman"; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; text-align:justify; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Baskerville",serif; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman \(Body CS\)"; mso-ansi-language:DE-CH; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:"Baskerville",serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Baskerville; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Baskerville; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman \(Body CS\)"; mso-ansi-language:DE-CH; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; text-align:justify;}size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;}