white girl

small town suburbs

modest houses, new cars, granite countertops

friday nights sitting on leather couches discussing allusions in movies

pointing out themes and foreshadowing like it was a joke

we all took a film class in high school

we were experts in our field

we knew everything

white girl

run-down city

probably a modern center in its glory

la tienda next to a cuban bar where no one goes

college kids don't like adventure

college kids are safe

college kids like mexican themed bars where everyone speaks english

college kids like taco bell when authentic is across the street

"do go there, its dirty"

white girl

big-city dreams

spends weekends on trains and in unfamiliar apartments

twenty dollars for a concert ticket and thirty more at the bar

we like our warm beer a comfortable distance from the poor, the forelorn

two dollars for a forty and nothing for the homeless man on the corner, politely pushing the cross signal button, looking out for the safety of drunk women and drunker men

not even a smile, a hello, a thank you

a coffee costs less and offers more

but we walk by, out of fear or distaste or blame

white girl

another unfamiliar city

the same familiar problems

we think we get it

we know the problems, the solutions

"Just GET a job if you need one,"

"If she just quit taking drugs, she'd be fine"

"Well go to college then, get your GED and go"

"racism is over, discrimination doesn't exist"

it's their fault for falling through the cracks

because we're white and privilaged and successful

so we understand

we watch the news, read articles

so we know your struggles

we know everything