Deadass—
you won’t believe this.

So I’m riding the Bx5 right,
minding my business,
listening to this woman’s phone conversation,
and she says,
“Michael Jackson just died!”
and in my head I’m thinking—are you deadass?! He’s dead?
And I’m still making sure he’s deadass today.

Faith Brown is a writer born and raised in The Bronx. Her recent work has been published in BX Writer’s Anthology Vol. 1 and the online literary journal 433 where she is also a poetry editor. You can check her out on Instagram @faithestella & Twitter @_faithestella.