Blank-Talk
I learned blank-talk early
from Mama’s no color phone calls
in the kitchen, paying bills.
Yes, this is she,
faux-pitched and framed carefully,
perfect, cherry-picked syllables
neat on her tongue.
Rhythm bled from her voice
because the lady on the other end
does not sound like us.
Subtle, starting in youth and
carried in my subconscious,
code-switching tinting black tone
blank in certain company —
yes sir when reaching for a wallet,
never y’all in the classroom.
I starch my sentences and
keep them clear-cut, closer to
somewhere far from me.
AAVE flowing as I move
through Delta streets but dying
past the Hinds County line
or anywhere else I am afraid of
my speech and skin
creating a target.
Jaylin Jones
Jaylin Jones is a freshman English major from Clarksdale, Mississippi, but is also an aspiring journalist and creative writer dedicated to exploring Black issues regarding race, politics, and identity. He touches on both the universal and the deeply personal in his work, and is dedicated in both art and daily life to engaging people in difficult but meaningful conversations to create understanding. Currently, he is the Secretary of the Southern Miss Association of Black Journalists and also involved in organizations such as the USM Genders and Sexualities Alliance, Creative Writing Club, and Students for Human Rights group.