Uptown.
Because you can't ever feel down
Up
Town.
Lights swirling around
and exotic colors become all
at once
neon bright.
Searing your eyes enough to give everything
that dim cloud whirling around it
like an oversized trench coat.
But this is all overseen
and somewhat out of place
by the people in
fur coats.
And ladies who hold silken scarves
over their oddly high placed noses
as they pass my friend's cigarette smoke
just before they enter the "hip" Latin restaurant
to prove they're cultured.
And even though I laugh,
and give my friend a knowing smile,
I hear them over the crowd
incorrectly pronounce
the phrase "dos cervezas",
and can't stop the cringe that appears on my face.
My friend walks away as if nothing is wrong,
truth be told, there shouldn't be.
We both know how this works.
Who gets upset about a heritage they don't advertise?
We have all
but bleached our skin
(because anything that isn't white is in)
We want out.
Because exotic
animals
are often admired
(as they are worn around the shoulders).