Kevin Young's Poem Lime Light Blues

The title “Lime Light Blues” evokes both restless and sadness through the imagery that he lives under spotlights. The first part of the poem focuses on narrator’s experiences of people’s implicit prejudice on blacks. The second part of the poem starts with “when I dance…” mainly focuses on the narrator’s anxieties and ironies toward other’s intense attentions. Young’s descriptions of him being uninhibited and rebellious serve as a foil to the white people’s intolerance of him.

Kevin Young’s writing is not in a specific form. But he is holding the poem together through a repetition of certain sounds: “shoes,” “doors,” “walls,” “glass,” “class,” and etcetera to emphasize his undiluted cynicism as he acts like a maverick. These words all share

People on the street do not know him except those caricatured black racial stereotype. People “snap” their books, “clutch” their bags, sees him as a carjacker, mugger, shoplifter, and drug dealer, revealing a common sense that a black man’s life is marked by prejudice and ostracism. By using metaphors, the words “score,” and “green” indicate an incorrect stereotype of black men’s relation with drugs and money. From Young’s standpoint, black men experience some degree of prejudice of being black skin men. Because as he points out, “Plainclothes/ cops follow me in stores/ asking me to holler/ if I need any help.” Plainclothes cops even pretend to be Clerks in the store, and they are so certain that he is black, looks unsettling that they even ask him to “holler” if he wants steal something, and they are ready catch him any minute. Additionally, Young writes about “Crowds gather/& wonder how/the spotlight sounds.” Here, “spotlight sounds” actually refers to the response from the narrator or black men to other’s attentions or treatments. Ironically, people do not listen to black people’s voice, and they simply judge from one’s skin

He points out that “When I dance”, I burse people to fight. Because black men are under the spotlight and things related to them attracts peoples’ attentions. Then he writes, “as I cross/ the street unlooking.” This shows the change in his attitude that he careless about causing another disruption. In this line, “I know all/ a movie needs/ is me/…”, he portrays himself causing troubles as most people presumed and wanting to be at the center of attention. The poem ends with another figuration, “What pressure/my blood is under”. Young response with an emphasis on his blood is under such pressure to perform in such way that disrupts the society. In fact, his resentment of the unfair judgments is understandable. He emphasis on black should be approached calmly without