hecky naw

before hell was an address we knew to call
we were only allowed to utter hecky naw.

the extra y, as if a question hanging in air—
can we get some more mom? hecky naw.

at the courts, we were picked up or picked on.
can i run in the next game? negro hecky naw.

when Kanye was cartographer of our grammar—
1st album, he told us aw hecky naw

that boy is raw. & of course, we all wanted
to be so uncooked, so rare. were we? hecky naw,

just a bunch of grayed knees & hard heads,
nate & his boys playing manhood. convincing? hecky naw.