Kennedy Plaza

I’m going to get on a bus

In Kennedy Plaza

And the last place

I’m ever going to see

For the rest of my life

Is Providence

They’re filming a movie

On my block

And that was the final straw

Because I heard them

And they were talking

The people doing the movie

The director

Was talking to the, you know

The actors

And, uh, they were saying

How the movie

Is all about these poor people

And that’s how I found out

That I’m poor

That I live

In a poor neighborhood

And so I also learned

That perhaps

I might

Be poor

And that was all

I had to know

Because poor

Has a lot to do

With where you are

So you see

Whereas I might be

Providence poor

I would be

New York destitute

I would be Boston

Homeless

And I would be San Francisco

That-thing-where-rich-people

Hunt-you-in-their-backyard

But I could be

Arkansas rich

Montana wealthy

South Carolina rich

North Carolina decent

People love to complain

About Rhode Island

But we don’t leave Rhode Island

Because we secretly know

That there are very few places

On this Earth

Better than Rhode Island

Better in the sense that--

We have beaches

We have a mall

We have Denny’s

The entire state doesn’t smell like urine

And our racists feel sort of bad

About being racist

To your face

In public

As far as I know

As a white person

That’s not bad

And so when we hear

That we can live somewhere else

For cheaper

We go on and on about it

But we don’t actually move there

We might talk about moving there

But we don’t really move there

Except I’m moving there

I’m moving

I’m getting on this bus

And I’m going as far as I can

Until the people I see

From the windows of the bus

Look worse off than I ever could be

And then I’ll get off the bus

And build a life for myself

Built on the great American idea

That all you have to do

To be successful and happy

Is to surround yourself with people

Even more miserable than you are

Right now
Everyone around me

Is AS miserable as I am

And that was fine

For awhile

But that’s not going to cut it anymore

And that’s how I feel

About Rhode Island

In general

It was good

For a long time

For me

And it might still be good

For other people

Right now

But it’s not right

For me

Not anymore

So I’m getting on a bus

And I’m going somewhere

That feels right for me

And I have no idea

Where that place is

Or if it even exists

But I have to look for it

I have to go looking because--

Because the living

Is in the looking

It’s not about whether or not

You can actually find it

It’s about the looking

It’s about--

Getting on the bus

And not getting off

Until you see something

Going by you

That you want

To grab hold of

I’m going to get on a bus

In Kennedy Plaza

And the next time

I step off that bus

I’m going to be

A whole new person

Someone Providence

Wouldn’t even

Recognize