Incident Cullen Summary

In the poem “Incident”, Cullen recounts his experience of when another similarly aged child called him a racial slur during a visit to Baltimore. Out of an entire seven month period that he spent in the city, in which he recalls seeing “the whole of Baltimore”, it was this one occurrence that he remembered. Cullen takes a reflective approach to the poem, in which he highlights the effects of this derogatory term. Before this incident, he recalls being “heart-filled, head-filled with glee”; however, this encounter changed his attitude and view towards Baltimore. It is alluded to that he was shocked and disheartened by this comment. In fact, as Cullen writes, “Of all the things that happened there / That’s all that I remember,” proving that this