By Angela Tharpe
Featured Art: “Busy Season” by Gabriela Denise Frank

I am not a city girl 
I am not a city girl  
I live in the city 
moved here last week  

I went to a slam poetry mic &  
did not read slam poetry & 
now everybody wants to know 
where I’m from  

where I’m from  
you can pay 10 bucks  
to feed a coyote 
from your car 

it is all very  
unregulated  

in the city 
I say hi  
to everybody I pass 
on the street 
out of habit  
when I smile 
they frown  

they want to know  
where I’m from  

where I’m from  
you can pay 10 bucks 
to watch a guy  
ride a bull 

inside a bar  
beer in one hand 
bull in the other 

it is all very 
unregulated  

here  

on the subway 
I thought a guy was talking to me 
he was talking on the phone 
I responded for longer 
than I should have  
he didn’t ask  
but he probably wants to know  

where I’m from  

where I’m from  
everybody knows  
which hotels have bed bugs  
& which ones are fine 
all you have to do  
is ask  

if you ask me  
where I’m from  
I’ll tell you  
I can’t go back there 
for long 

it is all very 
unregulated  

but if you ever 
wanna 
feed a coyote 
just say the word  

---

Angela Tharpe is a writer and teacher living in Atlanta, Georgia. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and her PhD in English from Emory University, where her research focus was on Black literature & culture. When she’s not writing or getting ready to teach, you can find her overwatering her houseplants or going on a walk in one of Atlanta’s many gorgeous parks.