Known by Janae Wrighten (12th)
I am called observant and outspoken
I wonder about the future.
I hear the silent tears.
I want it to stop.
I am called observant and outspoken.
I pretend it isn’t happening.
I feel so much pain and hurt
I touch my heart every night, and pray
While others are up continuing to play
I worry about my life.
I cry that I won’t make it and just die.
I am called observant and outspoken
I understand the silence.
I say what cannot be said.
I dream that this will change.
I hope you will understand.
I am called observant and outspoken.
Broken by Janae Wrighten
I used to dream about not being heard but now
I am out of the herd because I didn’t fit in. so
twisted in my mind, in my thoughts I forgot.
What it felt like to be me. They say speak when.
Your told to be spoken to, but not everyone has a voice
Or at least is aware that they do, you scream and shout, you
Pout and pout but no one even cares to hear your calling out
Realize by Janae Wrighten
I am patient and aware
I wonder if you are
I hear the voices
I see the pain
I want you to realize it want last as long
as you continue to stay from the past
I am patient and aware
Number 84009 by Marquarius Lyde (12th)
Number 84009
Replaces a name
Not a mind
Dehumanization
Survival of a Genocide
Monsters and heroes
Show their face
Some risk their lives
For God’s grace
As the world grows colder
The people need a light
To restore their might
So they may rise up and fight
The Nazi’s spread like an infection
Broken into sections.
Families ripped apart.
Bloody mess
Like a disturbing work of art
To many lives lost
Without a grave
But I will remember.
I will say your name.
You will live in my heart.
For all time
Number 84009
Profile by Diontre Henry (12th)
You treat us like dogs.
Then put us in the pound.
After being beaten and hosed
We’re left in the ground.
Do you think your mother would be proud?
Of the damage you’ve done
To a specific-colored crowd
We were put on this earth
To live life just like you
But instead, you spit us out
Like the gum you chew
Now I’m sitting here looking at my brother’s eyes.
Wondering who’s the next one to die.
All we want is to be treated as equals.
But apparently everything we do is illegal.
When we look at the new generation
We showed them how.
We had to act with no hesitation.
Back then you used to call us niggers.
But now when you look at us.
All you do is pull the trigger.
Thanks to a brave woman who said the passionate words
I refuse
Some think were rarely physically abused
No more of being divided and separated in groups.
Because if divided
We’ll be gone in one big swoop.
We’ve come a long way from what we used to be.
And now we’re one big family.
But the pain still kept us in a chain.
Slowly watching the blood of freedom drain
So after all these years of hearing No
White people continue to mess up our mental flow.
I told my family I’ll never catch a case.
That my future would be bright in my face
But it seems the only reward I get is mace
So please tell me why do I have to remain silent
if you always gonna think a black kid is violent.
War Zone by Jaylen Allison (9th)
I am curious and intelligent.
I wonder why people fight in wars.
I hear gunshots and explosions.
I see death and destruction.
I want to help, but don’t know how.
I am curious and intelligent.
I pretend to be a hero.
I feel empathy.
It touches my heart to see their pain.
I worry about humanity and cry out for change.
I am curious and intelligent.
I understand their fight.
I scream STOP.
I dream of peace and freedom.
I try to erase it from my mind.
I hope for God to give us grace.
I am curious and intelligent.
Love’s Obsession by Natalie Young (12th)
I am obsessed with you.
I wonder what you do every moment.
I hear your voice and fall a little harder.
I see you and have faith.
I want you forever.
I am obsessed with you.
I pretend you are next to me where I lay.
I feel everywhere you kissed.
I worry if you still feel this way.
I cry at the thought of good-by someday.
I am obsessed with you.
I understand we live in different worlds
I say I am willing to learn.
I dream of our future.
I try to live in the present, but love won’t let me be.
I hope we last forever
I am obsessed with you.
My Dream by Daejon Evans (12th)
I used to dream about being someone I’m not.
But now I dream of being me.
Because I’m here for a reason.
Do I know what I’m here for?
No
No one taught me.
No one told me.
But I am worthy.
I am strong.
I used to dream about being someone I’m not
But now I dream of being me
Only time tells the future.
Does it move slow?
Yes.
We don’t know the end or where it starts.
Make the best with what I got.
I used to dream about being someone I’m not
But now I dream of being me.
My Mother by Niarobe Davis (12th)
I used to dream about having two parents in my life
At least one
To love me and tuck me in at night
I felt an aching pain in my heart
But when my dream came true
You hurt me
You broke me
You dug deep
Too deep
It left a hole
Nothing hurts more
Than a nonexistent father
A mother that used me
Abused me
Hateful words
Never listening to my cries
Never sorry for all the lies
I think to myself
What did I do?
To never get any love from you
I pretend to smile.
I imagine a new life.
A mother,
Who would protect me and hold me tight.
A love to cherish.
Throughout my life.
Voiceless by Olivia Salvaggo (10th)
I am quiet and invisible.
I wonder why.
I hear a song.
I see warm hands.
I want perfection.
I am quiet and invisible.
I pretend to be someone else.
I feel empty inside.
I touch velvet.
I worry for myself.
I cry inside.
I am quiet and invisible.
I understand troubles.
I say I don’t care.
I dream about creating.
I try to understand.
I hope it gets better.
I am quiet and invisible.
Wishes by Dalila Van Buren (10th)
I used to dream about the trees.
But now I dream about dandelions.
Because they dance in the wind.
Abuse by Makhi Davis (12th)
Abuse is a big thing in life,
People fail to see.
Abuse could be from anybody.
Could affect you and me.
People think you can get away,
But escape is not so,
It’s a generational problem.
More than a physical thing.
It’s mental,
It’s verbal,
A trauma unhinged.
It kills over 15 million children a year.
It’s time to change.
Amore by Yeny Morales (10th)
Soy muy curiosa y sentimental.
Me pregunto Como Seria en uno ten anos mastarde
Escucho tantas cosas pero na todo es bueno
Veo a las persona y me pregunto questaran pensanda.
Deseo muchas cosas peie mi mayoldeseoes que las personas amore.
Yo soy muy curiosa y sentimental
Translation
I am curious and sentimental.
I wonder how it will be ten years later.
I listen to so many things, but nothing is all good
I look at people and wonder what they were thinking.
I want many things but my biggest desire is that people love me.
I am curious and sentimental.
Determined by Tre Wilson (10th)
I am intelligent and dedicated.
I wonder how to succeed.
I her motivation
I see myself in the lead.
I want to be a sensation.
I am intelligent and dedicated.
I pretend to be naïve.
I feel envied.
I touch freedom.
I worry if I’m the best I can be.
I cry appreciation.
I am intelligent and dedicated.
I understand responsibility.
I say nothing.
I dream of success.
I try to be someone.
I hope for the best.
I am intelligent and dedicated.
Fantasies by Tacora Alston (12th)
I used to dream about Fairytales.
But now I have no dreams.
Because others don’t see what I see.
Better by Tacora Alston
I am focused and kind
I wonder what everyone else sees.
I hear the voices in my head.
I see emotions running through minds.
I am focused and kind.
I pretend not to hear others.
I feel alone with no one by my side.
I touch my skin and it is cold.
I worry about shutting down.
I cry myself to sleep.
I am silent inside.
I understand different moments in time.
I say let’s freeze them forever, so it won’t be on my mind.
I worry about making a better life.
I try to see all the soft edges.
I hope it happens someday.
I am a thinker.
Dreams by Braxton Fludd (12th)
As I sit in my room
I dream to escape reality.
From a life riddled with pain.
I grow with the pain that sits with me.
Give a smile to hide my sadness.
Push it deep down.
So only God can see.
El Mundo (The World) by Josue Hernandez (12th)
Soy sabia
Me pregunto cambia todo el mundo mas
Escucho el silencio de noche
veo una vision de paz
Deseo un Paz de el mondo
Yo soy orgulloso
Yo pretendo ser Sordo.
Silento que un dia tendremos un dia de Juicia.
Yo toco mi corazon
Me preocupa si abandono este mondo sin mi logro.
Lloro por coraje.
Yo soy orgulloso.
Entiendo que el mundo no es Perfecto
Yo digo a mi mismo si todario estoy vivo.
Yo sueno con un mundo de felicidad y un mundo Perficico.
Lo intento ser perfecto, pera recuerdo que el mundo real no lo es.
Espero que algun dia me vaya con mis metas por completo
Yo soy orgulloso.
Translation
I am wise.
I wonder does the whole world change anymore.
I hear the silence at night.
I see a vision of peace.
I wish for peace in the world
I am proud.
I pretend to be Deaf.
Silent that one day we will have a day of Judgment.
I touch my heart.
I worry if I leave this world without my achievement.
I cry for courage.
I am proud.
I understand that the world is not perfect.
I say to myself if I’m still alive.
I dream of a world of happiness a Paradise.
I try to be perfect, but I remember that the real world is not.
I hope one day I will reach my goals.
I am proud.
The World by Alaysha Hill (12th)
The world is coming to an end.
I’m just a black African American
Try’na get to the bag
But the corruption
Gets in the way.
All they do is hate and brag.
I start to say F- this world
This shit is just sad.
But not all our people are bad.
Some understand pain.
Some work hard and are dedicated to change.
Some help people reach their goals.
People who struggle every day.
The system is broken.
They’d rather see us struggle.
Then lend a hand.
They have the power.
We should stand as one.
Murder, guns, and drugs equal death.
Boom!
They pull out guns.
One shot.
Two shots.
We need to be united.
Not kill’n our people for fun.
Like that’s a sin
What should we expect from a world that’s corrupt?
Dreamer by Albert Smalls (12th)
I am a caring person and a dreamer
I wonder what life will truly be
In many years to come.
I hear my thoughts racing in my head
I should
I shouldn’t
Do this or that!
I see better days ahead.
I want a better life
To have a better understanding
I am a caring person and a dreamer