"Bebop" by Aerik Francis

Aerik Francis is a Queer Black & Latinx poet & teaching artist based in Denver, Colorado, USA. Aerik is a recipient of poetry fellowships from CantoMundo and The Watering Hole. They are event coordinator for Slam Nuba and a poetry reader for Underblong poetry journal. You can find links to their published work through their social media on IG/TW @phaentompoet

---

_Bebop_

“[B]op referred to the way a man in particular walked down the street. It was his signature to the world!”
–Afaa Michael Weaver

Bouncing with a bounce that announced
us three, a trio of Black cuties, faded
and insisting to get more twisted,
we enlisted the assistance of a Lyft ride
to safely get us to music and club lights.
Stopped in a stopping zone, we are stopped by a cop:

What do you think you are doing bebopping across the street?

Dizzy and shocked by the hunting of this hawk,
we paused – the driver paused – lost,
only to notice the cop was talking to us.
Driver-side window down, he scowled
at us in the back, passengers waiting
for an answer to a foreclosed question.
We clearly must have been improvising
or riffing or scatting & step-skipping–

Why did he think we were bebopping across the street?

Clogging up the stopping zone in gridlock
the cop could not find a law
-ful reason to fee or lock us so
he clocked us & blocked us until he walked off.
Not even jaywalking, just walking while Black
with the singing swagger of our swinging staggers–
​
What else could we think but be, bopping across the street?