Poems

Here are some poems from past performances. Thanks to Rashida James, Belove and Chassity (Lioness) for their work with these students and for passing the poems along.

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Black Woman
Inspired by all Grandmothers displaced by Katrina
Shaunele Jackson

Little Black Woman
house washed away
no where to eat
no where to stay

Little Black Woman
tainted with sorrow
hoping her babies
survive tomorrow

Little Black Woman
poor and bruised
prayers stuffed
in the sole of her shoes

Little Black Woman
tired and weak

Little Black Woman
forgotten for weeks

Little Black Woman
calling on the Lord

Little Black Woman
please hold on

Little Black Woman
brown fingers slipping

Little Black Woman
floating away

Little Black Woman
Little Black Woman

Please hold on…

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New Wings
Clayton Jackson

when i used to play
only girls allowed
told the boys to stay away

can't say i was poised for this day
but things got rough
like the bumps on my face

now i'm here
with flowers in my hair/my best gear
unprepared but ready
for my last performance
the church my final stage

mama is enraged/her tears proof
she will never understand
look at her baby
seventeen and buried today

finally a bird
free from its cage

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June 29, 1999
Richardo L. Grimsley

If I had one wish

I would ask God
to bring my Granddaddy back,


He was a handsome man.
A God fearing man.

who knew
before I understood
that it was time to say

good-bye.

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Homewood
Glen Smith

If I take you, back
your hope, smile
belief in better days
would disappear.

There is constant violence
Gunshots that echo dilapidated blocks
Plaguing a dying community

There is…
No laughter
No flowers
No tree of hope
Step over
Broken bottles
Scattered dreams
Young men in search of their fathers
Drug Dealers selling addiction

This concrete is hell
The Devil sitting at each corner
Waiting to eat you whole

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Something Blue
Reginald Moore

loss and pressure
cut my soul into angles
sharp enough to injure
yet far too dull to cut a way out

despite my prayers
the rain never falls hard enough
never seems to wash away this misery

darkness seeps
finding cracks in my happiness

it enters slowly, inside I quiver
fearful of being found
only to become a prisoner of sadness

these prayers worthless
this rain never strong enough
to turn misery into rainbows

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Elevators
Clayton Jackson

I walked to my cousin's crib. "Bro' you made it!" He was sitting on the porch getting his hair braided. Some crazy cats came thru started blazin' left his brains on my lap, eyes closed still the world stopped and life started changing. Pain became like steroids it made me stronger. Some say death is a badge of honor that day I learned death was promised, ambulance taking longer than the hair on Pocahontas, with tears I write rest in peace. But, now that your gone what happens to me, standing in a bloodstained white tee. I hope your elevator went up, I guess in time we'll see. You told me I could make it out, that you never wanted this life for me, you wanted to see me cross that stage with a degree to everything you deserved but never had in this life. As I fight back emotional precipitation, still waiting like reparations for the day we stand face to face and you say "Bro' you made it!"

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For the Record
Janaya Hanner

I am Woman.
I am Black.
I am Poor.

My spirit rich.
My back strong.
My eyes full of dreams.

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The Box
Clayton Jackson

I think outside the box
of tech's and blocks.

I think outside the box
of rocks and pot.

I think outside the box
of playing slots.

I think about spaceships
and robots and spaces
where no one dies
and people sleep
without hearing shots

Police so bored they pick up trash
instead of little boys
who happen to look like me

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Hardball
Glenn Smith

"Death ain't nothing but a fastball on the outside corner" .
-August Wilson
The only thing promised is death
as soon as you take that first breath.

Death just coming slow but still flying
like a fast ball, 10 mph coming wit' steam.

Then it stops stands right in front of you
just waiting for you to swing.

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To Whom it May Concern,

It will hurt but it must be said.

I grew up in a house
where plates struck walls more than laughter.

I am not a girl with waiting arms.
I am selfish this is the only self I have to love.


-Aiden Conde