What being a know-it-all really is:
it’s being afraid to not have an answer,
because not having an answer right away
guaranteed you were getting hit.
I mean, you were getting hit,
you knew that by the way they walked up.
The question was just part of the ritual,
and the panic, trying to figure out
if it was something you did, or what got broke,
and the mad panic of where am I even,
and oh no, did they just ask me?
I knew it.
I could see it in the walk.
I’ve got to get better at answering questions.
Written while listening to Johnny Hammond Smith, “Black Feeling.” Friday 13NOV26
