My N__gga!

(2,000)
 
I teach my first semester at Park West High School
on 50th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues.
I get a pink slip for the second semester, 
the school population always drops
as the year passes.
           
A union brother steps down from being a Dean,
and I teach three classes and dean the rest of the day.
His act of solidarity saves my job.
 
I am a tough but fair dean.
I treat all the same.
Those who have never had me as a teacher,
and have only seen me in the hallways,
think I am mean.
 
I am really the misunderstood Boo Bradley
in To Kill A Mockingbird,
or the Monster
in Frankenstein.
 
I walk down the hallway
and pass two students,
one Dominican,
the other African American.
 
The one student
says to the other, 
“I hate that guy!
 He is the meanest
person in our school”
 
The other student responds,
“Hey,  don’t anything bad about Mr. Geist!
He's my my nigga!”