I Have No Street Cred

I’ve never been held
in a cell overnight.
Guess I didn’t protest enough.
Or spit on the right cops.
Heavy drinking’s never been
my virtue
nor has rampant drug taking.
I haven’t chained myself
to the White House fence
or written a threatening letter
to a politician.
I don’t have a tattoo
on any part of my body.
As for piercings,
nothing jangles when I walk or talk.
I have acted a little crazy
from time to time
but always in the privacy
of my own dwelling.
As I said at the beginning,
I don’t have a rap sheet.
There’s no record of me
in some hell-hole
with a cold cement floor,
a bunk and a toilet in the corner.
Without street credibility,
where am I?
I’m stuck writing romantic poetry.
So cuddle close
and I’ll read some to you.
Then you decide
if I’m to be held overnight.

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident. Recently published in Homestead Review, Cape Rock, and Columbia Review with work upcoming in Louisiana Review, Poem, and Spoon River Poetry Review.