Street Love

“My folks are laying lines on me like

They’ve written out the part and all

I got to do is get to a place called Start

And follow the road to fame and glory—

A PhD in mucho buckology

Two point five kids and a quick apology

To the starving folks in East Ain’tGotNothingVille

While I look down from Sugar Hill and tell

Myself how phat my program is.”

Damien lives a life of privilege yet is frustrated that his parents planned his future for him. He also expresses guilt for this privilege, due to seeing the struggles of fellow Harlem residents firsthand.

“How could they know she had never possessed

Anything worth the while

Had never distributed anything except pieces of herself

Which she gave freely

To those in need, or to those who, like

Her, were broken, and needed a fix?”

Here, Junice uses wordplay to frame her mother Leslie’s selling of drugs as forgivable. Despite Leslie’s lack of money, she allegedly tried to help others.

“There was a time

When I thought of my life as a journey

Knowing somewhere there would be a place

At which I would Arrive and be

Beautiful.

[…] But none of that was true.”

Junice conveys the hopelessness she feels daily. She has grown pessimistic, certain she will not be able to break her family’s cycle of poverty. On the other hand, she is confident in her ability to face challenges—even if temporarily.

“No, it is all cycle and recycle

What the great-grandmother has done

Is to rut the earth for her children

What the grandmother has done

Is to widen the furrow for her children

What the mother has done

Is to square the pit

Deepening it for the ritual to come

And here I sit, grave deep among the

Waiting worms, staking my claim

As they stake theirs.”

Again, Junice stresses her family’s cycle of poverty, which she equates to fate. Each generation’s inability to escape financial hardship makes it more difficult for future generations (e.g., Junice and Melissa) to try.

“And maybe that’s what makes Junice shine

What makes her seem suddenly fantastic

Why in a garden that for all the world seemed mine

She is the only rose that doesn’t smell of plastic.”

Damien’s mention of a rose is a reference to William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. He uses this analogy to convey how beautiful and how kind Junice is compared to cruel girls like former love interest Roxanne.

“What can Damien want of?

Once he smells the sulfur pouring

From my life he will run

When he reaches for my hands

And finds them wringing in hopelessness

He will shrink away.”

Though Damien is persistent in his pursuit of Junice, she is certain that, once he learns of her economic hardship, he will no longer wish to spend time with her. She feels ashamed of her economic situation, partially due to others’ disdain, and thus assumes Damien will react the same way.

“My son has a greater role to

Play than is offered on this

Meager stage.”

Damien’s mother Ernestine is one of the obstacles to his happiness: While well-meaning, she is adamant that his academic success will lead him to rise above economic hardship. Thus, she sees the disadvantaged Junice as “below” him.

“Miss Ruby will

Be our Strength and Center around which

We will build Family.”

Junice hopes to convince authorities that her grandmother Ruby is a suitable guardian for her and Melissa so she can keep the family together. She coaches Melissa to frame their grandmother as competent, despite her bouts of confusion.

“They still long for blood and

Flesh although blood and flesh has failed

Them.”

Social worker Rachel Davis recognizes Junice is desperate to keep her small family together. However, being privileged, she is baffled why Junice wishes for this when her family has been responsible for the challenges in her life.

“I’ve heard, He said

What? She asked

That you are bruised, that there are tender spots in

Your life

There are no tender spots, She said, No bruises, she protested.”

When Damien tries to acknowledge Junice’s trauma, she denies having any. Despite his compassion, she is not willing—or perhaps not ready—to be vulnerable with another.

“What am I doing?

He’ll take one quick look

And wish he was anywhere else but here

I’m already ashamed of what I think

He will think of me, of the life I lead.”

Having developed feelings for Damien, Junice fears his judgment of her economic hardship. This shame is a product of economic disadvantage—and shame, like financial hardship, tends to be a cycle (self-perpetuating or otherwise).

“With Junice I am not merely Damien

But something new, a me invented

Each atom of my being alive with feelings

And oh what sweet sensations

The crowded station rattles and shakes

But I am alone on the mountaintop

Naming the creatures of the earth

And this sweet creature, this Junice, I will call Love.”

After spending time with Junice, Damien becomes convinced that he loves her. He argues she makes him a better person, which is ironic, given that she believes their relationship hurts him socially.

“The guards search me, tossing my confidence

Into the brown plastic bag with my keys

Reminding me that I am Black

that I am lesser.”

Junice feels vulnerable when she visits her mother Leslie in prison. She is keenly aware that, as a racial minority, she will likely be judged unfairly by the guards.

“How can you do this? How can you leave me?

Oh, my God, you are a terrible thing!

You’re grinning with some food while your mother

Your mother rots in this Godforsaken

Place forever and you don’t care.”

Leslie is understandably frustrated by her incarceration, but she wrongfully projects this frustration onto Junice by judging Damien. Though she accuses Junice of not caring about her plight, Junice’s loyalty to Melissa and Ruby disproves this.

“Yo, Damien, are you okay? Your eyes

Have a distant glaze and you’ve been

Walking in a daze for days. Tell me

What’s up? What’s going down?”

Kevin mistakes Damien’s shift in demeanor for illness, when in reality, he is suffering from love sickness. This mirrors Shakespeare’s Romeo, who suffers from melancholy due to Forbidden Love for Juliet.

“All I’m asking

Is for the chance to be stronger

Than the women in my family have been.”

Junice is aware that Social Services is unlikely to allow her and Melissa to live with their grandmother Ruby, who is revealed to have a history of felony convictions. Thus, she pleads for a chance to break the family’s cycle of poverty.

“When my mother came out of her

Mother’s womb, Black and skinny, and screeching

When the doctor who delivered her skipped

The box naming a father

When the gypsy cab came and picked them

Up to make the drive to Alphabet City

When the smell of reefer rose sweet

And pungent through the gray project walls

When my grandmother called her friend to come

To see the new baby and no one was home

Everything was already determined.”

Reinforcing the theme of Family Legacy, Junice feels trapped by her ancestors’ decisions. Thus, rather than remain trapped, she decides to avoid foster placement by fleeing Harlem with Melissa, which she sees as a better way to ensure they remain together.

“More important than what happens

To me for the first time

In my life more important than

What happens to me, is what will happen

To Junice?

Can I shut my eyes, seal my ears

Not know what she stutters through

Her tears

That every distance

From love is too far?”

Damien’s love and concern for Junice lead him to prioritize her well-being over his own. He is adamant that he cannot ignore her pain, that he must do what he can to help—even if this means sacrificing his future at Brown University.

“I am not the virgin version of your

Life, Damien. I am only what you see, this stick

Of a woman trying to make enough magic

To negotiate the shadows of these streets.”

Damien is initially disturbed by Sledge’s assertion that Junice engages in sex work. In this quote, she defends herself, arguing she does not have the luxury of choices like he does and that she must resort to extremes to support her family.

“You have a station in life, education, the dedication

Of your father and me, you do know how much

We care, we have dared to care all these years

You can’t just turn-spurn-burn your bridges.”

Ernestine cautions Damien against becoming involved with Junice. She is certain that like Leslie, Junice will prove a negative influence. In this, she reveals her prejudice against the economically and socially disadvantaged.

“Infatuation is a situation that maturation

Shows us must fail in the long run—bright sun

Of hard truth.”

Though Damien is certain he loves Junice, Ernestine insists this “love” is infatuation. To this end, she argues becoming further involved with Junice is not worth the risk. While Damien is young, and thus susceptible to changing, confusing emotions, this quote is another example of Ernestine’s invalidating of his desires.

“[Damien] called [Junice] as he walked down the

Street, searching passing faces

Looking for her eyes, all the

While trembling inside, trembling

That it might already be too

Late. She might have taken

Her heart to another place.”

Earlier, Damien sensed a shift in Junice but did not push her to reveal her pain. Now, he regrets not helping her sooner, fearing she and her sister may have already been taken by Social Services.

“It’s impossible for [Junice] to stay here

To surrender Melissa to a system

That doesn’t love her.”

Damien emphasizes Junice’s love and prioritizing of her sister Melissa. To this end, he is certain she will do everything within her control to keep them together—a trait he admires.