Poet Bryan Byrdlong, 17, is a senior at Whitney Young; he competed in Louder Than a Bomb 2011 representing his high school.

The subject of Pops is a young man trying to make an appeal, Bryan says, to his racist father. Racist against Caucasians, the son compares them to stars that are undoubtedly wondrous while attempting to exploit his father’s logical fallacies and ultimately sway his opinion.

Though everyone knows the points are not the point – the point is the poetry – congratulations to Bryan, who was selected as an Indy Finalist in the 2011 competition which celebrated over 600 young writers.