Driving While Black and Jewish
Driving While Black and Jewish
By Esther Cohen
Khanyi is getting her license this summer
we went out to practice her driving
even though I am not an A Plus driver
I like driving in the country
no traffic beautiful roads I’ve never been on before even now
she said we have to practice what we’ll say
to a police officer if we’re stopped because we are
driving while Black and Jewish and then she said
No Politics No Chit Chat Don’t Make Friends
we have to be calm and complacent said Khanyi
20 years old now and we practiced silence
failed at that we both love to talk
rode around for a while gorgeous evening
she was driving up a long country road no people
no cars we were discussing every possible thing
we heard a siren and Khanyi who is half Zulu
she is dark and very very beautiful she turned
almost white began to sweat and her eyes and her mouth
opened wide and we saw an emergency vehicle with a siren
accompanying a car go right past us right by
and I said Do You Want Me to Drive Now and we
both laughed and laughed and she said Yes.
Esther Cohen publishes a poem everyday at Overheard.ec@substack.com.
Find her here too: esthercohen.com