Grandma’s rosebush
reminiscent of a Vice Lord’s do-rag.
the unfamiliar bloom in Mrs. Bradley’s yard
banging a Gangster Disciple style blue.
the dandelions all over the park putting on
Latin King gold like the Chicano cats
over east before they turn into a puff
of smoke like all us colored boys.

picking dandelions will ruin your hands,
turn their smell into a bitter cologne.

--- Opening excerpt from Nate Marshall, "picking flowers"

Full poem is here: https://poets.org/poem/picking-flowers

#TodaysPoem #Poetry #NateMarshall

Awesome essay on poet Nate Marshall and Chicago from the one and only #JamilaWoods, from the Chicago Review of Books:

The South Side is the Sun: Nate Marshall's Chicago and the Poetics of Permission - Chicago Review of Books

https://chireviewofbooks.com/2026/02/18/the-south-side-is-the-sun-nate-marshalls-chicago-and-the-poetics-of-permission/

#NateMarshall #Poetry #Chicago