Locomotion

Lonnie pens “Me, Eric, Lamont, & Angel,” a poem in which the friends share tragic things they’ve witnessed. When Eric divulges his dream that a boy turned into a man, he claims that it’s more than Lonnie has ever observed. As he envisions the fire consuming his parents, Lonnie lies, saying he has never seen anything tragic. In “Failing,” Lonnie writes about struggling in math but also confesses his belief that people don’t always tell the truth.

In “New Boy,” Clyde joins their class, saying “y’all” and wearing pants that are too short. His classmates laugh and call him “country,” and Clyde looks miserable. “December 9th” recalls the fourth anniversary of the fire, when Lonnie wakes up physically ill. Miss Edna prays and takes the day off to stay with him. Meanwhile, Lonnie relives the day in his head, noting that there used to be four of them.

In “List Poem,” Lonnie itemizes all he’s wearing, including a watch from his father and a gold necklace from his mother. Then, he meets his friends in “Late Saturday Afternoon in Halsey Street Park” to play basketball. When Lonnie moves to