an African proverb
     says,
“it is not what you call me,
it is what i answer to …”

 driving in my car
 black wisdom from the ages
 is turned on its head:

 in my car
 what i think of my Self
 is of no real significance
 (save in my own mind …)
 because i am always black while driving
 and i know
 THEY are there        waiting
         lurking
 looking
 out
 for some one black
 like me.

 i am a black man
 driving.
 i have my own
 and countless other blackmanintheircar stories to tell—
 it is the same
 story/
 new chapters of a work still in progress …

 i am blessed.
 i have driven through
 my
 youth
 and into my elder years—
 i am still
 driving.      THEY          are
         still             there
 watching.