hArtworks
Spring 2006 • $5

Omékongo diBinga

featuring guest author
special section reflections on the holocaust
The Charles Hart Middle School Literary Magazinel-r: Parris Robertson, Jamal Whittington, Troi Stevenson

The hArtworks Editorial Board
Writers-in-Residence: Bomani Armah, Ruby McCann, James Saunders, Nancy Schwalb, andJamila Wade
The Literary Magazine Club: Lukman Abdullah, Maryum Abdullah, India Bell, Antoinette
Better, Shama Better, Somaiya Blakney, Denisha Bolden, Aaron Brooks, Bruce Brown, David
Brown, Steven Brown Jr., Channelle Campbell, Reginald Conway, Mariah Cooper, Disheka Crook,
Naaman Dudley, Cherish Gaines, Dai’Juna Gales, Mary Holsinger, Jerome Jackson, Kevin Jackson,
Markus Johnson, Yasmin Jones, Nichell Kee, Brandie Keys, Erica Kyle, J.C. Morrow, Tiffany
Nelson, Shavon Osborne, Terrence Patterson, Taylor Peterson, Johnathan Richardson, Keyosha
Richardson, Jerahmeel Shields, Marché Shields, Bnyonka Simpkins, Demarco Singleton, Dawayne
Singleton, Monae Smith, Ashley Stevenson, Tierra Thornton, James Tindle, Tiona Wade, Lisa
Walker, Eric Wallace, Brittany Watkins, Briana Whittington, Jamal Whittington, Teresa Wilkins,
Jamal Williams, Renita Williams
Front cover l-r: James Tindle, Steven Brown, Omékongo Dibinga, Aaron Brooks

2

Introduction
Welcome to hArtworks, the nation’s only inner-city public middle school literary magazine, written andedited by the students of Charles Hart Middle School. hArtworks is published through a collaborative effort
between the school and the D.C. Creative Writing Workshop, an independent non-proﬁt working to createa literary renaissance in Southeast Washington. Now in its sixth year, hArtworks gives our young writers theopportunity to exercise their creative energies, speak their minds, and be heard by an audience throughout
the city. The 2006 edition of Poet’s Market recognizes hArtworks as “an outstanding example of what a literary
journal can be (for anyone of any age).”
This issue features our students’ reﬂections on the Holocaust, culminating our study of that period, including
two visits to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and a talk with a Holocaust survivor.
We have many friends who have helped to make hArtworks possible, and we would like to express our
gratitude to them. Our sincerest thanks go out to the Banyan Tree Foundation, Herb Block Foundation,
Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Children’s Fund of Metropolitan Washington, Commonweal
Foundation, Community Foundation of the National Capital Region, D.C. Children and Youth Investment
Trust Corporation, Fannie Mae Foundation, John Edward Fowler Foundation, Philip Graham Fund, Harman
Family Foundation, Hitachi Foundation, International Monetary Fund, Junior League of Washington, Moran
Family Fund, Meyer Foundation, Rotary Club of Washington, Wachovia Foundation, Wendling Foundation,
Weissberg Foundation, the friends and family of Anna Su, Michael Joy and TSCJoy/Monterey, LLC, Sarah
Booth and Bloomberg L.P., Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Karibu Books, GO! Creative, the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum, the Arena Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre, McGuire Associates, Joyce Page and Ms.
Printing, Tollefson & Gustini Investment Management, our friends at Popeye’s on Malcolm X Avenue, Ms.
Shin’s 6th grade class at Bush Hill Elementary School, Gregory Auger, George and Lenore Cohen, Fritz Edler,
Tom and Carolyn Grey, Mark Hollinger and Kathy McNeil Hollinger, Frances Horn, Betsy Karel, Gay andCharlie Lord, Paul Mandelbaum, Judene Slaughter, Raina Rose Tagle, friends of the late Meyer Saul Taubman,
Juanita Wade, Vera M. White, and Martin Youmans.
Special thanks for the hard work and dedication of the D.C. Creative Writing Workshop Board of Directors:
Dr. Susan Gerson, Bernie Horn, Kathleen Huston, Joan Kennan, Bill Newlin, Nancy Schwalb, Kirsten
Tollefson, and Jamila Wade.
We would also like to thank the following administrators, teachers, and staff who are our partners in thisendeavor: Principal Willie Bennett; Assistant Principals Yvonne Davis and Shelton Wilson; Ms. Randa
Alhegelan, Ms. Katherine Buchholtz, Ms. Gloria Fergusson, Ms. Carolyn Jackson, Mr. Jarvis Massenberg, Ms.
Gina McKinney; Ms. Megan Merklinger; Ms. Eleanor Seale, Ms. Pamela McKinney, Ms. Ann Brogioli, and Ms.
Maevern Williams.

3InsidehArtworks presents featured poet Omékongo Dibinga ........................................................ 30
Omékongo Dibinga Pulse of the Motherland.................................................................................. 35
Our student writers
Luqman Abdullah Pain ................................................................................................................ 47
Maryum Abdullah
The Holocaust .......................................................................................................................... 8
Confrontation ........................................................................................................................ 43
When I See You ...................................................................................................................... 43
Regina Abraham The Real Me ....................................................................................................... 50
Sherelle Barnes What A Lost Soul Is .............................................................................................. 18
Chris Beckham
Open Hand............................................................................................................................ 18
A Lion’s Soul .......................................................................................................................... 20
Diamond Bedney Thinking About the People In New Orleans .......................................................... 53
Dontrey Bell
Life .......
14
A Poet ...
47
India Bell Broken Body and Broken Souls ......................................................................................... 9
Terry Bennett A New Me .............................................................................................................. 14
Antoinette Better My right hand.................................................................................................... 17
Danielle Blake My Name .............................................................................................................. 53
Aaron Brooks
The Holocaust .......................................................................................................................... 9
What is Love ......................................................................................................................... 24
The Rose
25
Bruce Brown
The Shadow ........................................................................................................................... 29
Kamikaze .............................................................................................................................. 44
Saviya Brown Skylights ................................................................................................................. 17
Steven Brown My Mystery Is My Mission....................................................................................... 39
John Brunson Why? ..................................................................................................................... 51
Anthony Bullock I Dream ............................................................................................................ 58
Diamonique Campﬁeld Poetic ...................................................................................................... 21
Qediah Chaplin
Right the Wrongs .................................................................................................................... 57
The Hood .............................................................................................................................. 58
Reginald Conway
The Remembrance.................................................................................................................. 11
Perfect Concepts ..................................................................................................................... 37
Just My Grandfather and Me ................................................................................................... 37
Sip the Cup of Peace ............................................................................................................... 38
My Amazing Wisdom ............................................................................................................. 40
Inside the Beautiful Sun .......................................................................................................... 45
Ashley Cooper Lava..................................................................................................................... 18

4

Simone Lovett Craig Strawberries ................................................................................................... 9
Kenith Curtis My Name ............................................................................................................... 46
Martanisha Dew
Liberation
8
Kaleidoscope .......................................................................................................................... 42
Ceshelle Evans Why My Feet Are Important to Me ......................................................................... 59
Shawn Flanagan
A Poem .
12
Dancin’ .
12Cherish Gaines
Coming Home ........................................................................................................................ 39
love .......
40
loneliness ............................................................................................................................... 40
Dai’Juna Gales Bless the Memories .................................................................................................. 8
Stanisha Gaskins What I Didn’t See Him Do .................................................................................. 56
Crishauna Gay Oranges Everywhere .............................................................................................. 55
Demetrius Gibbs Relation ............................................................................................................ 43
Janine Green Thinking .................................................................................................................. 13
Kiauna Hamilton
Colored Vowels....................................................................................................................... 50
I learned from it ..................................................................................................................... 50
Tamekica Heckstall
The Power of the World........................................................................................................... 44
Truth ...
47
Jasper Hicks
A Question About Truth ............................................................................................................ 8
Sapphire
56
Quaniesha Holmes Philosophy ...................................................................................................... 48
Shamia HouseMy True Name ...................................................................................................................... 52
Belief .....
52
Markela Izlar Ice .......................................................................................................................... 52
Isiah Jackson Strange Day ............................................................................................................ 51
Quanita Jackson My Open Heart .................................................................................................. 59
Marcus Johnson I Am From .......................................................................................................... 14
Markus Johnson
A Beautiful Flower ................................................................................................................. 38
The World ............................................................................................................................. 39
Shaina Jones My Voice.................................................................................................................. 12
Damon Kee
Music ....
21
The full moon at a glance ........................................................................................................ 23
Malik Kenney My PS2 .................................................................................................................. 55
Brandie Keys Steppin’ to the Left ................................................................................................... 10
Tanisha King Color of Vowels ........................................................................................................ 54
Xavier Leake Pumping .................................................................................................................. 14
Dawn Lewis Talking ..................................................................................................................... 13
Edward Lytle A Poet ..................................................................................................................... 16
Angelo Martin A Strange Day ....................................................................................................... 58

5

InsideDavid Martin Hip Hop Makes Ya’ Jump Jump ................................................................................. 13
Jerry Martin New Way ................................................................................................................. 42
Shantice Matthews The Love in My Heart...................................................................................... 24
Shambriel Metts About Me ........................................................................................................... 49
Diamond Mitchell
Many ways to look at a pen ..................................................................................................... 19
A smile ..
19
Richard Mitchell Blue Baby .......................................................................................................... 59
Mercedé Monroe .............................................................................................................................
Miracle ..
26
Where I’m From ..................................................................................................................... 29
J.C.Morrow A few ways to look at broken glass ............................................................................... 25
Shawn Murchison I Am ............................................................................................................... 49
Jasmine Murray Struggling into the New Year ................................................................................. 46
Nickelly Newman Sleet ................................................................................................................ 21
Shavon Osborne My Mother’s Smile .............................................................................................. 23
Shanice Parker
Legacy ..
45
SHANICE ............................................................................................................................. 45
Terence Patterson The Blue Jeans .................................................................................................. 38
Keyonna Plowden My Sport ......................................................................................................... 56
Davon Rawlings Welcome to Whee Town ....................................................................................... 11
Johnathan Richardson If I had the power to... ................................................................................ 44
Parris Robertson A poet is the Anacostia River ............................................................................... 20
Gregory Sam Orange Grove .......................................................................................................... 56
Rico Sanchez Las Vegas ................................................................................................................ 57
Marché Shields Deﬁnitions ........................................................................................................... 53
Bnyonka Simpkins Memory ........................................................................................................... 9
Lexus Singley Where I’d Like To Go .............................................................................................. 16
Lance Slaughter
Peaceful.
12
What If Pizzas Grew On Trees? ............................................................................................... 58
Monae Smith
My feelings............................................................................................................................. 10
Queen Monae ........................................................................................................................ 28
Erika Stephens Dancing Rhythm ................................................................................................... 10
Anthony Sterling
The Boogeyman...................................................................................................................... 54
Sweet Pie ............................................................................................................................... 57
Ashley Stevenson
My Real Name ....................................................................................................................... 46
Vowels ...
47
Troi Stevenson
A Soul ...
22Life .......
22

6

Charles Thompson Iron Bars ........................................................................................................ 24
James Tindle
The Ears of the Silent Fire ....................................................................................................... 26
Love at First Touch ................................................................................................................. 27
blue shadow ........................................................................................................................... 27
I am a tennis ball played in the game called life ......................................................................... 28
DeJon Tucker My Real Name ........................................................................................................ 49
Ashley Walker The Confusion of a Backward Witch ........................................................................ 54
Quanice Walters QUANICE ......................................................................................................... 41
Brittany Watkins
His Cry .
15
Walkin’ away from runnin’ ...................................................................................................... 15
My Personality ....................................................................................................................... 16
Thoughts in the Dark .............................................................................................................. 17
Alicia Williams Name .................................................................................................................. 48
Renita Williams
Broken Glass ......................................................................................................................... 41
Praise Renita ......................................................................................................................... 42
Doors ....
42
Ronnard Williams Vowels ............................................................................................................. 28
Franzel Willoby What Is My Name? .............................................................................................. 48
Joseph Woodard
Diary Entry ........................................................................................................................... 51
Keep the Peace ....................................................................................................................... 54
Tanisha WrightLife Is Unfair ......................................................................................................................... 51

7

The Holocaust
When humanity was at its bestand hate was well left alone
When one man’s madness left to struggle
as all tranquility was broken piece by piece
As the peace is gone and all that was believed was lostthe families that were separated as children were killed
As the little girl cries to know what’s going on
The rain that falls washes the spilled blood on the groundThe boy’s hope that he would some day ﬁnd his diary
As many people’s freedoms were stolen
As many people resisted
the barbed wire that keeps them from the sun
The bitter silence that spread through the camps
The fear of saying what’s true
The memory that brings misery
The healing that takes a long time to heal
And the question that leaves us hanging
Why?

Liberation
Hands, east, legacy
spiritual diary
People will stay with you
Mirror, trial, burnAll students should learn
Liberation, shadow, gray
It is a good day today
Rain, ghetto, blood
We are all loved
Martanisha Dew

Maryum Abdullah

Bless the Memories

A Question About Truth

Bless the memories, fear
don’t be afraid to die
but you will still survive
Bless your hope and don’t forgetyour forgotten parents
Bring the stars that were in your memories
let your fear ﬂy awayand don’t forget to have a nighttime day

written with a pen
sealed with a kiss
if you are my friend please tell me thisare we friends or are we not?
you told me once but I forgot
so tell me now and tell me true
so I can say I’m here for you
and if I die before you do
I’ll go to heaven and wait for you

Dai’Juna Gales

Jasper Hicks

8

th
At

e Ho

loc a ust M use u m

The Holocaust
It’s all madness
The glass of peace
shattered to pieces
Blood everywhere
Hope is barely alive
Don’t cryBe tough, friends buried in dust
Dignity, memory and pride
all stolen
Their fevers and burns, bruises and bumps
won’t be healing so soon
Believe and conquer
Keep hope alive
For their triumph is a legacy
and they will be passed as legends

MemoryIn my hands, I feel madness.
I look east, I look west
knowing I’m blessed.
All the stress that I had at night,
all the secrets I kept in my diary,
I’m still waiting for my heart to heal.
And I will never steal or kill,feeling all the colors of the rainbow
to glow orange,gray to bring peace,love and harmonyand don’t forget my dignity,
my memory through my journey.
Bnyonka Simpkins

Strawberries

Aaron Brooks

Broken Body and Broken Souls
Put away the broken glass
fear, hate, guns, death
Put all that away and bring
clouds, kids, and memories
stars, hope, spring
And that’s my storyof broken bodies and broken soulsIndia Bellstrawberries, strawberries they are so sweet
strawberries, strawberries they are so good to eat
bursting like a cloud on my tongue
they are red and sweet each and every one
ravenous and sugary they are rooted in the groundand when they grow they make no sound.
Simone Lovett Craig

9My feelings
When I wake up, I see the horizon
from my great view in my hand
I feel madness, I feel blessed, I feel the legacy
I say I’m not indifferent,
I see through the books that are buried under barbed wire
I witness sadness, madness
I hear thunder, I watch slavery
hearing people saying burn baby burnbreaking down, killing, stealing and fearing
The policy made millions ﬁlled with terror
Seeing that man causing murder and desolation
I cry and say I don’t want to cry, but I just cry
want to sacriﬁce but I need my life
Monae Smith

Dancing Rhythm
Dancing to the rhythm
moving to the beatas I watch my feetmove across the ﬂoor
I wonder is the beat your beat
my beat, his beat, her beatstill I am moving to the rhythm
jumping, bumping, thumping, sliding
across the ﬂoor still I want tofeel it hear it I want to thinkof it, I see people dancing but
why am I still standing here
I need to start feeling the beat
Erika Stephens

Steppin’ to the Leftas the world turns
as we all hold hands
we step to the left
going farther in life
because if we step to theright it’s like every thing
stops your heart andevery thing you desire.
It’s like when you moveto the right you
start to fail like you’ve
fallen and can’t touch
your feet. But when
you go to the left
you go faster and fastertill you can’t catch yourbreath. You go faster and fastersteppin’ to the left
steppin’ to the left
I am alive and fullof life accomplishing what
I see in sight and thenI stop, pause and think
steppin’ to the left
that’s all it has to be.
Brandie Keys

10

S.
U.

Ho

lo

st
c au

Mem

orial M useu mThyou can come to Whee Town
where wheeing is fun, you can ride my truckit’s full of honey buns, we are tiny people
we stand on stuff, sometimes it’s churches
and sometimes it’s steeples
we run around saying, whee! whee! whee!
some of us are happy and run in a little line
our friends they join us with glee all the timesome of us like to sing and when our phones ring
we the tiny people of Whee Town
sing whee! whee! whee!

e

Welcome to Whee Town

Davon Rawlings

The Remembrance
We remember the time when they were sent to the ghetto
We remember all the secrets that were untold
We remember the time when the Jews were selected
When the bystander watched them bleed
Everyone remembers the legacy of how Jews were treated
When the Nazis thought they could conquer everyone and everything
But the Jews had some triumphs
They found a few ways to emancipate and escapeMillions were dust to death, dead bodies reigning everywhere
Can you believe the memory?
Can you believe the remembrance?
Always remember every treasure left behind
Everybody gone to heaven
Remember all the perpetrators
All the cries of the children raining everywhere
They made a sacriﬁce, hoping that their family is not taken away from them
Always remember the blizzard of fear and conquest
Remember the despair, remember the stolen bodies that were killed
Remember always remember.
Reginald Conway

11

A Poem
I am a shadow walking on
the sidewalk thinking about
yesterday’s mistakes.
I am at the Anacostia Riverlooking at ice crystals.
I hear their voices with my sorrow.
A poet makes a touchdown whena meteor strikes.
A poet needs freedom so thatthey can get bravery and havetheir own style.
The intelligence in a poet isjust humanity.
My drama struts when I walkthrough the metal detectors
in the valley of innocence.
Shawn Flanagan

My Voice
My voice is clear like looking
at water coming out of the drain.
My voice is precious like it wasmade for me to sing.
My voice is powerful and strong
so I can speak what’s on my mind andsay it out my mouth.
My voice is fearless and protects me
when something is going on.
My voice is clear, precious, powerful, strong,and fearless.
Shaina Jones

Dancin’the other day I
was dancin’ in mysoul it was sofast I couldn’t stop.
I was tryin’ to talkbut nothin’ would comeout
dancin’ with myself
dancin’ with myself
dancin’ with myself
spinnin’ so fast
tryin’ to catchmyself
10 miles5 revolutions to go
back to rebuild
my strength anddignity.
Shawn Flanagan

Peaceful
can you be peaceful?
yes. use unity to be peaceful.
being Peaceful is worth more than gold
take that burden off your back,don’t listen to the cave of loudness
constantly echoing in your ear,being loud, shouting, screaming at you,
if you choose not to listen to it
you’ll be tranquil and serene
but most of all you’ll be Peaceful.
Lance Slaughter

12Why talk?
Why listen?
Why? Because . . .
every day I talk.
Dawn Lewis

Thinking
Today
When I was writing
I was thinking
Thinking about everything
My thoughts
My friends
What will happen when theWorld ends?
Runnin’ from my soul
Deep inside I felt cold

nd
Ti

le

Jam

Every dayI talk andI playevery day I
talk about
boys, girls,
food and lotsof things.
Every day there’s something
new to talk about,every day I see myself talking
about my family ortalking about other people.
Every day somebody talks.
Every day somebody talks.
Why talk negative insteadof talking positive?

esTalking

Hip Hop Makes Ya’ Jump Jump
Hip hop makes ya’ jump jump
You can hear the soundgo bump bump
You jump
You jump
so high so highYeah, the music makes you ﬂy and ﬂyit’s like the sound of
the drum, you get happy
You even start acting like a bum
Run to the beat
Run run like you’re crazy
get up and jump, don’t be lazy
You jump
You jump
You bump
You bump
feel the music and just dump
hip hop makes ya’ jump jump
David Martin

Janine Green

13

Pumping
Yesterday
My heart was pumping
When I heard ﬁve bullets
Go through the windows
I try to duckBut I’m not fast
Enough then I’m
Hit, my heart
Starts pumping
I hear my mom call the police
In fear, then all I canHear is the blood drop on
The ﬂoor, then I hear
My mom’s heart start
Pumping. My mom smacks me on
My face so I could
Stay up. But it is
Too late, my heart juststopped pumping
Xavier Leake

I Am From
I am from the land of swords
From the blood of people
I am from the city of lights
The place of money
From where things growto where they rot.
Marcus Johnson

14

A New MeI am soaring right through the New Year,also running like a wild panther.
I make better decisions than I did in the old year.
I haven’t fought in three years—Let’s make it four!
Flying, bouncing, skipping and spinning
into the New Year.
Terry Bennett

Lifewhen your life turns dull
it seems as if there’s
no reason in living
any more. It will
become boring soon
to you too.
When your life turns dull
life doesn’t haveany meaning anymore.
2 make sure yourlife doesn’t turn dull.
Don’t just sit there
and do nothing.
Dontrey BellHis Cry1
His cry talks
to anyone who listens
Yasmin Jones

2
anyone who takes
the time to realizethat he is alone, allby himself
3
sitting in the corner
thinking about his life, andhow no one cares enoughto look his way
4
the fear in his eyes, countthe many times they haveseen blue crystal tears
5
one minute is all it takes
for a boy to go stir crazy
6
everyone else has the courage
to be free, independent,
and victorious
7
cowardly, he stands on groundlocked up, locked down
it doesn’t matter.
as long as you can see his eyes
Brittany Watkins

Walkin’ away from runnin’
i was walkin’ awayfrom runnin’ how
so? too slow. the rhythm
that ﬂows inside me
has walked away fromrunnin’ runnin’ awayfrom heaven, hell, and in between is myself
walkin’ away from runnin’
was the best thing to happen
to me. a while ago not toolong ago a year or two
ago i ran away frombeing a young woman
being a teenager
being an adult female
success I had no lessof a better way to run
but to walkto walk away from runnin’
Brittany Watkins

15

A PoetWhere I’d Like To Go

a poetis drama
when people
fuss and ﬁght
a poetis a shadowthat follows
you aroundeverywhere you go
while you touch
the groundI’d like to go to New York
it’s my favorite place
I’d like to see the city at night
when all the pretty lights shine bright
I’ve never been to New York
I’ve only seen her in pictures or on TV
I wish I could go right now
when I sleep I dream of New YorkI dream I’ll live there
and climb the Statue of Liberty
and look down upon the beautyof the city of my dreams.
Lexus Singleya poetis an ice crystal
that sparkles
and shines

My Personality

Edward Lytle

The dawn began when I woke up
my smile was the sun
my breath was the wind
my eyes were god
and my mind was a closed door
black with vengeancea threat
my nails
it shuts aloud to anyone willing to help me wake up
I didn’t know how much I can be until I saw my rare image
in the glass mirror.
I ran like I was in the Olympics.
I screamed like a battered woman in a horror movie
My door opened as my dream evolved into a nightmare.
I awoke.
My black door was wooden and broken like me.
Brittany Watkins

16Thoughts in the Dark

Da

he

is

ka

o ok
Cr

My love reconciles life
itself. A graduate in
the art of lost souls
yet found in my wanderlessmind. I now know what
my goal is in life to live
through eternity to be
loved, to have a lifelong
love right here by my side.
I have no more begun tolisten to the demands in the
grand green grass that blows
alone in the wind. My thoughts arewhat my heart doesn’t need.
They are deadly in many
possible ways. The noisefrom the attic is all of souls.
I must get free. I am not alone
in the night always. But tonight,
I am all alone.

My right handMy right hand isused for carrying things.

Brittany Watkins
My right hand isused to keep safe.

Skylights
In the morning I
like to look up
at the pretty blue
skylights when you
can smell the freshand wonderful air withall of the birds and bees
ﬂying in the pretty
blue sky, skylights
skylights are so wonderfulin the pretty blue sky
Saviya Brown

My right hand helps
to stop the guns from shooting.
My right hand isused to stop the marching war.
My right hand willrise to the top.
My right hand willbring peace in life.
My right hand is
my strong hand.
Antoinette Better

17

Lava

What A Lost Soul Is

A poetis lava

1.
A stray cat
A clock that doesn’t tell time
but watches it ﬂy by

not to betouchedrushing down
the sidewalk strutting her skills
her voiceis a ﬂame
deep in the valley
burning
her voice gives people
bravery
like a hero
Ashley Cooper

Open Hand
I am an open hand
I display no anger
I am the open hand
I have a good heart
I am an open hand
I never have anything bad to say
I am an open handa step away from beinga tight ﬁst man
Chris Beckham

18

2.
A drum that misses a beat
A broken piece of glass
3.
A ﬂower trying to blossom
A trapped hostage
Life after death4.
A black soldier in a white army
A torn piece of lined paper5.
A child without her parents
A person or animal left to starve
6.
A person gasping for air
A car accident
A space that just can’t be ﬁlled
Sherelle Barnes

Many ways to look at a pen
1.
a start, beginning,a voice
M

on

ae

2.
manufactured once, but
used many, many times

Sm

ith

3.
the difference between yourwildest hopes and dreams andyour actions
4.
I would like to know, does itknow my thoughts
scribble . . .
5.
I feel the sleekness of
my metal pen . . . encouraging
6.
heavy but light at the same timeit has many waysof being itself
7.
blue
black
red
green
many colors
8.
letters
poems
dreamseventsthe ability to write
Diamond Mitchell

A smileA smile is a shadow
showing a face of innocencedemonstrating the strut ofher thoughts. A smile is avoice speaking no words, hiding
yesterday’s mistakes and drowning
all sorrows. A smile is a breathof fresh air after a bad event.
A smile is a jade stone waiting to befound. A smile is all the colors thatshow happiness. A smile is such anantique but so new. A smile isfreedom, bravery, conﬁdence. A smileis the dawn of a new morning.
Diamond Mitchell19A poet is the Anacostia Rivera poetis a voice

making an apology
I am a progress report
always improving

for a faceof innocence
I am bravea poet isa marching band

to express
my freedom

marching on
the sidewalk

A poet is
the Anacostia River

Parris Robertson

ﬂowing like
cornrows
I ama metal detector
ready to uncoverhidden objects
a poet isa family reunion
always havingdrama
I am growing up
doing dailychoresa poet isa confession

A Lion’s Soul
A lion on a block trusting nobody
trying to survive and eat.
Never to rest staying on its feet.
Never knowing if I go to sleep,
if it’s the last air I’ll ever breathe.
Quick glances, no daydreams,
never a long conversation,
trying to make friends it seems.
An old dirty lion
hey, that’s what I think.
Kicked aside and I don’t even stink.
Before I go tossed like a bundle,
long as everybody knows I was the king of the jungle.
Chris Beckham

20

D

am

on

Sleet

Ke
e

sleet islike rainshiny
and slipperywatery andcold
icy
and wetPoeticturning fromsleet to black ice
to water

I am a poet with style and dramathat ﬂows like the Atlantic Ocean.

Nickelly Newman

My yesterday’s mistakes aren’t tomorrow’s disasters.
My intelligence makes my words come to life.
My words are solid and can’t be broken,
but at the same time, I’m gentle as a kitten.
A poet is a monument that rises.
Diamoniqué Campﬁeld

Music
Music is anything.
Anything can make music.
Drum on a desk with a pen or pencil.
Music is instantly created by you.
Boom boom boom goes the thunder
and ahhh screams the little girlto her parents.
The thunder crashes and goes crackleboom
and a bolt of lightning
splits the sky open.
Damon Kee21

A Soula soulis the windblowing throughthe aira fragile gift getting
shipped with much careLifea soul is
the marrowinside of a bone1.
Breath, clocks, batteries,
hearts, life, you can’t
make them start again

the noise orsound of music
ringing from a phone2.
Your breath stops
you can’t breathe

the shadow ofa lion anda baby cub

3.
A clock breaks you
can’t ﬁx it

the voice of
the angels
singing from above

4.
Your battery runs outof energy, you haveno charger

Troi Stevenson

5.
Once your heart stops
you die
6.
Matches, once you strike one
it cannot be struck again
7.
Life, once you die
you’re gone forever
Troi Stevenson

22

R en

The full moon at a glance

it a

W

i

lli

am

1.
The moon, shining in its glory
lights up the night.

s2.
Every night the moon comes
out, mad at the sun fortaking the day.
But it’s better at night.
3.
What time will it come out?
Will it be a full moon or a crescent?
How long is it going to stay?
4.
The moon sometimes getscovered by clouds. But it stays
there waiting and wondering.
When is it my turn to shine?
5.
Why is it so bright at night?
When does it stop shining?
6.
Life starts with the moonand ends with the darkness.
Damon KeeMy Mother’s Smile
1. It brightens the room justlike the sun.
2. Makes me feel as if
I could never ever gowrong when I’m around her.
3. It’s everlasting liketime, never fades away.
4. A waterfall of different
expressions that are withsaving in your memories.
5. Sometimes her frown is justas beautiful as her smile.
6. A smile that makes mewarm inside like my grandma’s
hot chocolate.
7. Her smile is everywhere I am
school, sleep, or justbeing with my friends.
Shavon Osborne

23What is Love?
What is love?
love is undeﬁned
a style that’s unknown
love is the break of dawn,
how it feels for something new
a voice unheard
it’s a giant rainbow
an invisible rainbow
no one knows the code
the code to crack love
love is an antique
shattered in tiny pieces
the last breath of a person,
a lung gone badthe lung went blue
so has the heart.

Iron Bars
1. Young dreams
that should be real
2. Iron bars shootyour dreams
It is your downfall
3. A small boundary hurts
your soul when
you see it
4. They box
you up like a cage
5. The force ﬁeld blocks
your chanceof greatness

Aaron Brooks

6. The years you haveto stay in bars destroy your life
7. You may never see
your family again
Charles Thompson

The Love in My Heart
you’re the love in my heart
you’re a pleasing person who is gentle and ﬁne
we laugh loud together, so loud our laughteris the wonderful coffee brown of your eyes.
Shantice Matthews

24

A few ways to look at broken glass
1. Crushing, shattering,a great forceCh

2. The way a person
feels after
a despiteful
loss

ri

e
sB

c kh

am

3. A thin line between
love and hate,
once broken, who knows
what will happen
4. It’s like a relationshiponce something goes wrong it’sover like that
5. To break through,to go through all the way
from one side to another
J.C. Morrow

The Rose
The rose is still,says nothing, thinks nothing.
It’s like a calm killer smiling in your facewaiting for you to turn your back to stab you.
It symbolizes death,
you won’t see it coming.
It strikes like a tiger hungry and thirsty for blood.
The red liquid that surrounds it symbolizes blood.
The rose is black, Satan planted it,it kills you if you touch it.
It calls you forth and confronts you.
It’s coming, you better run.
It reminds you of one other person,strong, attractive, mean.
If you take a good look at it,
the rose reminds you of me.
Aaron Brooks

25

The Ears of the Silent Fire
1
Fire bright as lightthe steam burned
the closed lid of myeyes
2It’s blue-ﬂamed ego
3
The embers of the plane works withthe blaze of the sun,it burns brightly
4
The puberty of a forest
burned by an arsenal of ﬂame
5
The end. The wind blows
ash into the eyes ofa stranger
6
The shadowof the blood redsun
7
The rising of a ﬁery sun
8
The wind blows
with an orange ﬂame

9
Lava from a crater
ﬂows into abowl of ﬂame,
combusts
into the beautiful
silent ear of a phoenix
10
The phoenix’s ear
hears life,
its soul connectswith the essence of life
James Tindle

MiracleHow could an orange grow in an apple tree?
What went wrong?
How did it happen?
It’s too different! It doesn’t ﬁt! Get rid of it!
The apples are bright, colorful, and shapely.
The orange is so dull and round.
It doesn’t make sense! It’s so odd!
It’s still growing, but it will never ﬁt.
It’s mysterious, it’s beautiful, it’s a miracle.
Mercedé Monroe26setter, and Reginald

Con

wa

yp

, Ja
wn

th e

P ea cBroat
e C orp s H e ad qu a rtl-r : Br uc e

blue shadow

e
rm

me

ma B

r fo

T

l
in d

ha
e, S

er s

Love at First Touch
Her eyes blocked my vision
Her smile clouded my own
I could not talk as if
someone sealed my mouth
Lost in her eyes, I stared into
the back of her thoughts andI knew what she was thinking
I stared at her features
I was afraid of being rebuffed
her body was beautiful but deadly
in its own way
her ﬁst and mine had a lethal battle
she and I stared down into
each other’s worlds, we had chemistrywhen she didn’t show another time
my cheeks watered and my tears
littered the ﬂoor
my volcano erupted
I was angry, she wasn’t there to see me
and when she was backit was the end of my anger
but she stared at me
the glare in her eyes paralyzed me
but I was in love
James Tindle

I’m slowly deteriorating
my shadow stalks me
my loneliness rocks my mooda labyrinth conceals my thoughts
I’m lost in my own mind
in a hole of darkness
my loneliness reﬂects madness
in solitary, in my corner of light
my loneliness breaks the picture
my mind is isolated
I think light
my loneliness littered the ﬂoor
a hole of conﬁnement
it kills me slowly
it’s words are singing my soul
to sleepa slow wind blows hopefrom my hand
my hair moves with the windloneliness scars me
a promise of joy fades from my eyes
soft music rings the bells of faithloneliness ﬂows over the horizon
James Tindle27

I am a tennis ball played in thegame called life
I am yesterday’s mistakes where
only getting two questions right
was a lifetime supply of F’s
I am a tree, stale, yet alive
I am my mother’s ﬁngertips
always changing everyday’s new plans
I am a sea ﬂowing througha wide open valley with styleand voiceless waves
I am a marching band, loud, energetic
and full of life
I am a valley wide and open
I am a cave, ice crystals seek within
the shadows of a new dawn
I am a face of innocenceno guilt, no shame,a hopeful smile of courageous bravery slips
across the sweet face of hers
I am a jade stone sparkling brightbut strong, a breath thatwill always remain an antiqueJames Tindle

Queen Monae
I’m Queen Monae
the one and only
I’m Queen Monae
can somebody tell me where’s my money
I’m all about fun and games
never had to say hey
I’m having a great day
When I say hey
You better say
Hi Queen Monae
I am the one
who carries herself with maturity
and loyalty
that’s why I’m not a princess
I’m a queen
and my name is Monae
Monae Smith

VowelsA is black, like a T-shirt and the man of steel is wearing it.
E is white, like the clouds making an eagle.
I is red, like ﬂames burning a house down.
U is green, like fresh grass.
O is blue, like the clean blue sea.
Ronnard Williams

28

ll a

h

qm

A

u
bd

Lu

I’m from long johns
and wife beatersof both materials

anWhere I’m From

I come from God
made dirt and thatwasn’t me grandma
I’m from ﬁfty centfor the truck where
profanity was thepromised language
from hot chocolate
and cookies fresh fromthe oven
When bullets are alarm
clocks and like birds
ﬂying all day
I’m from new balancesand half of my hairdone from band aids
but no boo boo’s
I come from too many
kids in the house
I’m from birthdays
ending with whipping
From no shoes andsocks outside andplaying in the ﬁrehydrant on hot
summer days
From ashy knees,ankles, and elbows
From those two big
cornrows grandma did
Mercedé Monroe

The Shadow
The shadow is like a leader,it always has something different about it,
like our own whispers,
one sounds different from the rest.
Like Martin Luther King Jr. saidin his speech, “People should not be judged
by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character.”Like the mighty shadow small or tall,
people’s colors should not affect themfrom yearning for the places that they want to go.
We shouldn’t let acres of land or sea
stop us in our quest for freedom.
Like Dr. King said, “I Have A Dream,”
like a shadow nothing will get in our way.
Bruce Brown

29

hArtworks presents guest artist

Omékongo Dibinga
30

top: Omékongo Dibinga; middle l-r: Luqman Abdullah, Omékongo Dibinga, James Tindle,
Maryum Abdullah; bottom l-r: Aaron Brooks, Steven Brown, James Tindle, Omékongo Dibinga

Omékongo Dibinga (www.Omékongo.com) is an activist, educator, spoken word artist and Founder and CEO
of Free Your Mind Publishing in Boston. Omékongo is a ﬁrst generation Congolese-American who writes andperforms poetry in English, French and Swahili and has occasionally used Wolof in his writings. In addition to

his new rap CD, Bootleg, he has released two spoken word CDs: A Young Black Man's Anthem: Love, Afrika andRevolution Revisited; and Signs of the Time. Omékongo is the recipient of the 2003 Cambridge Poetry Award forbest CD. He has performed extensively throughout the United States and in numerous African, European, and SouthAmerican countries. Omékongo has also performed on stage with Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, and Dennis Brutus
and has appeared on television and radio stations broadcast to 30 countries. His ﬁrst book, “From the Limbs of My
Poetree” was released in November 2004. His second book, an anthology of middle school students entitled: “Poems
from the Future, Poetic Reﬂections from the Next Generation,” was released in August 2005.
Omékongo visited Charles Hart Middle School on March 8 to discuss his life and work as a writer with Luqman
Abdullah, Maryum Abdullah, Aaron Brooks, Steven Brown, James Tindle, and Brittany Watkins. What follows is anexcerpt of their discussion.

Maryum: Do you have an emotional attachment toany aspect of your writing?

Omékongo: Well, I have emotional attachments toall of the poems and the rhymes that I write. I try
to write about as many different topics as possible.
I feel, as a Black male in this ﬁeld of entertainment,
sometimes we get typecast. People think we canonly write about certain things—drugs, rap, sex, or
whatever—but I’ve had so many different experiences
traveling the world that I try to write about as manydifferent things as possible, but all things that I havepersonal experiences with. I’ll write a poem aboutliving in the ‘hood, but then I’ll also write poems
dealing with issues of AIDS on the African continent,or people’s fast food diets, or people’s experiences inprison. Or people living in countries where they areexperiencing war, because I’ve been to those places aswell. So I’m very passionate about that, yes.

Brittany: What inspired you to become an author?
Omékongo: Well, I’ve been inspired by lots of things.
As you can tell by my name, my family is from theAfrican continent, speciﬁcally a country
called Congo. And growing up in Boston,
Massachusetts I was disrespected a lot by
African Americans who didn’t understandthat we’re all the same people. So growing
up, I was always writing. As I got older
I told myself, well, I can either hate thepeople who have hated me or I can,through my writing, try to show themthat we are all the same people and try
to get them to appreciate not only myculture, but get people, particularly African
Americans, to appreciate and respect
their own culture as well. My inﬂuencescame from my parents who taught me
about that. They also came from growing
up in extremely poor circumstances in
Massachusetts in the 80s, which was avery violent time. And also my inspiration
comes from young people like yourselves
looking for ways to get their work out
there. My work has been on TV in over
130 countries, and I don’t have a record31

Omékongo Dibinga
deal or anything. I just work hard and I believein getting my message heard. I’ve shared the stage
with great rappers: the Wyclefs, the OutKasts, theBone Crushers, just by believing in my work. That’s
what inspires me. Seeing folks like you all, who arelooking for a different direction than the ignorant
stuff we see on BET or MTV, you might be looking
for different types of options. You can have yourown businesses, your own companies, your own
T-shirts. It can be done without embarrassing yourown people.

Palm Pilot. And then I’ll sit down and sometimes
I’ll just get into my zone. If I can’t write it in twohours or so, it doesn’t feel right. It could be a 30
second poem, it could be a 5 minute poem. If I
can’t put it down right there, it doesn’t really feelright. Everybody’s different. Some people will takeweeks to write one poem. People have to do whatworks for them.

James: What are your favorite books that you’ve

brother’s an artist, so I grew up reading a lot ofcomic books to fuel my imagination on things,
X-Men, Spiderman, I liked Marvel better than
D.C. I’ve read books like “The African Origin ofCivilization,” and “Myth or Reality” because many
people are taught that Africa didn’t contributetoward civilization. When you learn the truth, you
ﬁnd that Africa was the beginning of civilization. So
those books inspired me, “The Invisible Man” by
Ralph Ellison. Poetically, I’ve been inspired a lot by
Maya Angelou and Nikki Giovanni. They really got
me interested in writing at a young age, because myfamily is from the Congo, as I said, and they werementioning the Congo in their poetry. So that reallyinspired me. “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” I
deﬁnitely learned a lot from that. Books by Carter
G. Woodson, I’ve read a lot about African history
and Black history.

or ﬁfth grade, classroom assignments and stuff. My
parents are political activists in the community,
so we would have rallies or shows for Kwanzaa,
and I would memorize poems by Maya Angelou
and Nikki Giovanni and perform them. And thenas I got older I started writing my own. The next
thing I knew, I was at a rally or community protest
and people would be, like, “Get up there and doa poem.” I would get up and do an original poem
and I was thinking, “People really like to hear what
I have to say, so let me just put it down and see if
I can keep writing about different topics. And that
led to me traveling and putting out my ﬁrst CD in
2001, my second CD in 2003, my ﬁrst book andDVD in 2005. I started my own company, Free Your
Mind Publishing; I put out a rap CD mix tape—I
took a bunch of songs by Jay-Z and Biggie andFifty and Tupac and re-mixed them—I just started
taking it from there. Like I said, Free Your Mind
Publishing is my company; our motto is “Opening
eyes one mind at a time.” That’s pretty much how I
do my thing, and how I got started doing it.

James: How long does it take you to write a poem?

Aaron: What is the ﬁrst thought in your mind

Omékongo: When I’m in my zone it will take me

when you begin to write?

read?

Omékongo: My favorite books. Well, my older

about two hours to write a poem. I’ll think about it
for a while and I’ll write some things down in my

32

Luqman: What got you started doing poems?
Omékongo: I was writing probably since the fourth

Omékongo: The ﬁrst thought? These are all greatquestions! The ﬁrst thing that comes to my mind
when I begin to write, the ﬁrst thing I ask myself
is: “Am I being original?” One of the tracks frommy next album is called “Maybe If I,” and it goespretty much: Maybe if I told ya’ll I was a stone
cold killa—Got three bodies on me, ‘cause theyOmékongo Dibinga
owed me skrilla/ Maybe if I told ya’ll I have to ﬂing
every day, ‘cause I have to feed my daughter in thishustling way.
Maybe so on and so forth... It’s like, maybe if
I talk about all these things, I’ll get you all to listen
to me—when I don’t live any of that stuff. That’s
pretty much how the song ends. So I think, “AmI being original to myself? Am I lying?” The hook
goes: Maybe if I told ya’ll about this fantasy, would
ya’ll be a hater and wish death on me?/ Maybe if I
told ya’ll this was my life be, could I make ya’ll goout and buy my CD?
So it’s basically asking myself, am I being true
and original? Am I writing about my real life
experiences? And if I feel like I’m doing that,then whatever I put down, people are going tounderstand. Some one will—not everybody—but
someone will understand it, because they canidentify with what I’m talking about. So if it’s true
to me, then I have to put it down.

Maryum: Is observing life giving you ideas forwriting?

Omékongo: Oh, absolutely. I’ve lived and worked
in sixteen countries, grown up in Boston,
Massachusetts, I’ve gone to some of the best schools
in the world—Harvard, Princeton, Morehouse,
Georgetown, Tufts, I’m doing my PhD at the
University of Maryland, and I live right here in
Southeast. Being all over the place, it deﬁnitely
inspires me. I’ve been in African countries where
there are people who are richer than me, who drive
Mercedes Benzes, have big houses, and are richer
than anybody I know. I feel like I have to let people
know about that experience, because everyone
thinks that Africa is poor.

At the same time, I’ve been to places inAfrican countries where people have been poor.
I’ve watched my cousin die from a common cold,from lack of medicine, and things like that. So,
the more I travel, the more I see Black people all
around the world, I see folks in Congo are the sameas people in Southeast. Same as folks in Boston,
Massachusetts, or whatever. I have to put that
down, because I get to see things that you all may
not see, so hopefully you all will want to see those
things when you get older. Because TV teaches
us to think inside the box, to think that we can’t
leave our ‘hood, to think that we can’t have great
aspirations and great dreams. I’m trying to show
people that I come from the same place that you allcome from and, just because I believed in myself—I
didn’t grow up rich—I’ve been able to see theworld, just by my work alone.

Steven: Where have you traveled to?
Omékongo: I’ve been all across the country, NewYork to California, so I won’t go into all of thestates. Countries that I’ve visited and performed
in, I’ve been to Cuba, South Africa, Zimbabwe,
Tanzania, Congo, Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana,Gambia, Senegal, Canada, France, England, andthere are two that I’m missing...it has to be twoothers on the continent, because I don’t think I’ve
been to any other European countries...I hate when
I forget. But you get the idea.

Brittany: Are you all the way African or African
American?

Omékongo: That’s a great question, because someof my poetry deals with that. I actually have abook here that I’m going to donate to your library,

As I got older I told myself, well, I can either hate the people whohave hated me or I can, through my writing, try to show them that
we are all the same people.

33

Omékongo Dibinga
and I have a poem in there called “The African,
The American” that talks about the differences.
It depends on who you ask. Both my parents
were born in Congo. I was born in the States, sotechnically that makes me an African American.
If people want to call me that, that’s ﬁne. I haveno problem with that. If people ask me who I am,
I tend to call myself an African ﬁrst, because I
grew up in an African household, in terms of thediscipline that I grew up with. Whenever I go to an
African country, I feel like I’m at home, no matter
where I go, even if it’s a country that I’ve never been
to before. Wherever I travel, I feel like I’m at home.
So you can call me an African, you can call me
Black, you can call me an African American, to me
it’s all the same—we’re all the same people.

Brittany: Who inﬂuenced you musically?
Omékongo: I’m inspired by all types of music. I grew
up on rap, so I’m thoroughly inspired by that—JayZ, Biggie, Posdnuos, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, I’ve been
inﬂuenced by all types of rap. African music, reggae
music, I’ve been inspired by everything. If it sounds
good, you know I’m going to put it in.

Brittany: Have you heard of Green Day?
Omékongo: Yes, I’ve deﬁnitely listened to someGreen Day as well. I think that it’s important todiversify. Music is music. Do I have to sit here
and talk about stereotypes and rap about random
girls, you know, just lie about doing that type of
stuff in order for you to say that I’m keeping it
real. “Keeping if real” is keeping it real dumb. It’s
keeping it real uncreative. It’s real ignorant. Rap
about what you live. I’ve never been to jail, I’ve
never been shot. I feel like my story is real enough,that what I’ve experienced—having my father
almost killed by an African country president,
having his head bashed in...

34

Brittany: Is that true?
Omékongo: Absolutely. Both my parents have degrees
from Harvard—my mother was beat down by copsin Massachusetts because a white girl lied and said
she tried to sell her drugs. That’s one of the tracks
on my album. It’s called “Dibinga,” that’s my family’s
last name. It goes: We supposed to be the soldiers
who never blow our composure/ Even though wehold the weight of the world on our shoulders/ But
we never s’posed to show it, students ain’t s’posed
to know it/ But you all don’t know our struggle,
so let me ﬂow it/ Worked hard to get here and did
what we had to/ My parents told us we had to set
an example/ We need to be leaders, the youth want
us to guide ‘em/ But ya’ll should try to understand,when we arrived from the Congo/ Folks kickedout with sis in Mom’s stomach/ Crossed the line
to C.A.R., barely got crossed it/ came to America
and settled down in Boston/ Dealt with all kindsof racists, had ﬁghts often...Ya’ll don’t know about
our struggles, our life ain’t been roses/ And Black
Americans were some of our biggest opponents/
That’s why we give back, so folks understand/ Youshouldn’t hate your brother—we all Africans...
I feel like that story is just as interesting to you all
as Fifty getting shot nine times, you know? That’s
going to be on my next CD that I’m working on.

Aaron: You said you were going to give us somedemos.

Omékongo: Yeah, basically what I did is, I’m trying
to show young people that you can rap and soundlike your favorite artist without swearing andwithout disrespecting women. It’s called “Bootleg.”(Kids laugh, crowd around him for CDs.) Don’t
worry, I’ve got extras.
I want to show young people that you can talkabout different issues in our community thatrappers aren’t talking about, because I believe that
there are different stories to tell.

Omékongo Dibinga
Pulse of the Motherland

Exceed the law of averages
And since American TV

They say you can’t judge a book by its coverBut it has become appallingly clear
That you can judge an entire continent

Only shows the ravages of a select few nations
Most Americans juxtapose the mother of civilization
With phrases like “damnation” and “starvation”

By its media coverage
So if we don’t control our own images,
You can color a whole continent dark
With the paint of poorly placed perception

We can’t expect to see
A true representation of our beauty

When you rely on the media
To teach you your Africa lessons

Most non-Africans believe that the mostAfrica has given to the world

Because I come from a continent,
That the world thinks is a country
And to put it bluntly,
We’re all HIV positive
Until proven negative

Are phrases like “Hakuna mtata”
And “Asante sana squash banana”
Along with exotic vacations in remote locations‘Cause I’ve never heard an American TV news station
Even say we’re made up of 54 nations

In the eyes of the media
In the eyes of the media,
It’s like Africa is either one big safari
Or Kalahari with seethin’ heathens
With no sense of religion
And home to animals and animism

Because TV renditions of African afﬂictions
Have created a depiction
Of a land of savages
Where the world’s most dreadful diseases

We’re just underdeveloped wannabe Caucasians
Still searching for civilization
Of who we are
But am I taking this too far?

Because to me,
The real problem be the WB, ABC, & NBC
which are the real WMD:
Weapons of Mind Destruction

35

Omékongo Dibinga
Because too many people

And we can’t forget “Tears of the Sun”

Including many Africans

Which left too many tears on the sons and daughters of Africa,

See what they see

Searching for a beautiful representation

Through the smart bombs they call TV

Of our native land

And it’s not just the newscasts,
It starts at age 3

But that won’t happen until we Africans
Take responsibility for our portrayal

Because I grew up

Because the betrayal of our friends

Watching images of Bugs Bunny

From FOX, CBS, and CNN

Dressed in grass skirts and black face

Means we will never see-an-end

Speaking in “African dialects”

To caricatures of the continent of human creation

And every 10 years,

Which has been made to look

There’s a new version of Tarzan on the TV set

Like she’s on her deathbed
And ready for cremation

And I don’t knew about y’all
But I recall seeing gorillas pass for Africans

But we will show the world

In those “Tin-Tin” cartoonsThat our Mother Africa is strong, vibrant and deﬁant

And if you remove

Because the pulse of nearly a billion people can never die

Marvin Martians’ helmet from Looney Tunes

When WE control what the world sees,

He’s probably an African illegal alien

So we must never comply

Or a fallen, faithless, famine-stricken African childTo pictures painted by pessimists on TV of our homelandWith his stomach protruded

For we are the pulse of Africa
And we will now show the world

And it’s these convoluted characterizations
That have helped in creating grown-up policy makers
Who partially base their opinions of our homeland
From ﬁlms such as “Congo”,“Gorillas in the Midst” and “The Air up There”

36

How proudly we will stand!

Perfect Concepts

Reginald Conway

ms

ita

W

il

lia

R en

Concepts are everything
Freedom is to feel like you are
not stuck in a cage.
Silence is to feel like you’realone and no one is there
I feel as if you are alone
in this world.
Reality means to cometo life like you were justborn over.
Hope is to see a smileon someone’s face.
Fantasy is to feel
as if you are on
an imaginary cloudﬁlled with beautiful wishes.
Memory is to reunite withyour past.
Trust is knowingthat something or someone
will always be with you.
Vision is to recognize that the sun
has gone down andthe beautiful moon has come up,
or like when November is the pastand December is the present.
Language is to recognize
someone or something’s voice,or know someone’s
identity.

Just My Grandfather and Me
My grandfather and I are two birds ﬂying south
He always used to watch me like a cat and a mouse
He stood like a statue with a conﬁdent pose
Everything he did was a mysterious lesson
His voice is like no other person’s
When he talks he is like a tiger searching for his foodHis hands had a tightly closable movement
When he touched me I felt warmth like when
the sun came up in the morning
I learned everything he taught me step by step
He never gave up on people because he wasn’t a quitter
I always loved his laugh and smile
It made me want to be like him
He always had a back up plan
With him being so amazing
I never thought he would go so quickly
I always went to visit him
But the last time I saw him
He was lying in a casket
I’ll never forget my memories with my grandfather
He will always stay on my mind.
Reginald Conway

37

Sip the Cup of Peace
Sip the cup. Drink it don’t look at it.
Just sip and pass
and it won’t take so long ‘til
everyone takes a sip of that cup.
It will never run out.
It will sweep the whole world.
It will never be too long
until everyone sips that cup.
Day or night, rain or shine,
it will still go on and on.
And when everyone drinksthat cup, they will look
as if they were just born over again.
This cup will be carrying around the blood ofpeace, it will be extraordinary,
it will notify everyone as if it
was a tornado watch.
It would sweep the world like a sun
and moon searching for
one another.
When everyone takes a sip, they will
scream out amen and everyone will be walking
to the beat of their own music.
So just take a sip from the cup.

A Beautiful Flower
This ﬂower shines like the sun.
This ﬂower is yellow and brown.
This ﬂower is in good shape.
This ﬂower is like a dream.
Your roots in the ground give you
all the stuff you need to be in good shape.
Your colors are so beautiful.
In the night time anybody can spot
you because you are so bright.
Your smile is so beautiful I can’t resist it.
Markus Johnson

Reginald Conway

The Blue Jeans
My grandmother wore blue jeansthat reminded me of waves of water.
I always liked the way she dressed
because she made me smile.
My grandmother took me places
and the waves of water of her blue jeans moved side to side.
Terence Patterson

38

If I speak of mysteryI speak of destruction and I
speak of secrets, which show my labthat desires to destroy everything.
My mystery is my mission
to silence the world of people turning good.
I ﬂy through the soul and skyof the hearts of my family.
My mother has compassion for me,
but no compassion for me to conquer the universe.
I gleam through light like the darkness in space.
This is a reality, but people think it ishidden behind the sun.

Tion

My Mystery Is My Mission

a

ad
W

e

Steven Brown

Coming Home
The sky is red and orange
the clouds are white with red andorange words that say dream and believe
I like the sky because it is pretty
and colorfulI think it’s mean when it rains
it is icy and steel and when
it turns into a river
I like to call it the twisted river
Cherish Gaines

The World
The world is like the meadow on a beautiful sunny day.
The world is like the Atlantic Ocean when the moon shines on it.
The world is like a forest when it rained the day before.
The world is like the desert on a very hot day.
The world is like the Rocky Mountains with snow at the top.
The world is like the plains where farmers live.
Markus Johnson

39

love

lonelinesslove is like a ﬂower
it is a nice thing to be
if you have someone you love
go at it, don’t stare at it
it is a moment of truth
for you and others

loneliness is sitting in a dark roomwith no one to talk to
as I sit in the dark room
I think, if I had one friend
who would talk and not skip
the subject when someone else
is talking
I would be happylove is like a ﬂower
it is a lively thing to be
if you have someone you love
go at it, don’t stare at it
it is a moment of truth
for you and others
to be in love is likeliving in the sky
sitting on a cloud
Cherish Gaines

My Amazing Wisdom
I know the meaning of sunshine
I don’t know everything that happens in my family
I know how to jump for the sky
I know how to write, I know how to dance
Sometimes I don’t know how to feelI also don’t know everything that happens in space
But I know some astronauts visited there
I can’t describe how I feel sometimes
I really can’t picture that there will be a tomorrow
I can’t predict what will happen next
I just realized that I am supposed to come to school to learn
Mostly, I don’t know what I am supposed to say
And, sometimes I feel like I am not real
Reginald Conway

40

loneliness is a forest
it is like you can’t
see anything
you hear sounds
an owl saying whoo whoo
you see a full moonand tall trees
you see a deer run
past and you
get scared, you jumpand start shaking
you look aroundand see nothing
but loneliness
Cherish Gaines

Broken Glass

he

P

C or

ps

Ja m

es T
i nd

le

a

1
The glass fell off
the table, it almost
hits the ground

tt

e
ea c

2
It shattered likeminiature people
running away fromlife
3
A man strikes
with a brokenbeer bottle almost
hitting a 3 year-old child4
Frozen like icicles
a book hits the table
icicles fallscary huh?
5
Little children frozen
from fear touch theirglasses and they breakin too many pieces
6
My teacher collects
sea glass, they are reallypretty and smooth7
A glass book is
difﬁcult to read because
there are no words

8
Cinderella lost a
glass shoe andthe prince found it
and put it on her foot9
Stuck in a glass
house, I never could
ﬁnd a way out
Renita Williams

QUANICEQ is brown, the color of my skin.
U is red, for the color of my blood.
A is blue, the color of the water I bathe in.
N is black, the color of my pretty eyes.
I is green, the color of my money I will make inthe future
C is yellow, the color of the shining sun.
E is every color that stands out for me.
Quanice Walters

41

Doors
A door is like a bittersweet chocolate candy bar
it’s good then nasty
The future is a door, the past closes
and the future opens.
A door is like a birth canalwhen a baby is on the way to earth
A wooden door always makes
an irritating soundMy eyes are doors when
I close my eyes to sleep
A dog’s tail wags like a door
when it’s happy
Renita Williams

Praise Renita
I am as fast as a cheetah
I made Africa
I cried my eyes so much
I made the Paciﬁc Ocean
I am so strong I beat up the Hulk
He started to cry
I am very tall, I can touch
the tallest mountain in the sky
I am so smart, the whole world
bowed down and called me brilliant
The steps from my feet made the sidewalk
an emerald colored jewel
I am so little, I can ﬂoat on a fountain
I am the greatest, I am the greatest
Renita Williams

42

Kaleidoscope
Purple, blue and red daisy ﬂowers
with elephants swimming and standing by
the ocean making circles and squares in the waterwith birds and ducks ﬂying over their heads
and kids scream and yell, sounds
like they are having fun
with more sea turtles ﬂoating in the water
looks like Mars, which is a planet
looks like something that you see
when you go out into space.
Martanisha Dew

New Way
I am skating into a new year
as the old year slides right by
and the old is as new as
winning the Nobel Prize.
I’m sleeping my memory away
while driving the success train,
diving into a new day.
Jerry Martin

Marc

hé S

h ie

ld s

When I See You

Confrontation
No sudden movements.
Silent as a mouse.
No offensive looks, as the canine
stares me down trying to sense my fear.
But I don’t show it.
He looks at my facial expression.
I look at his.
He growls loudly, I grin.
I try to make friends.
He wants to make enemies.
My heart pounds hard,
I hope he can hear it.
His back leg is trying to back up.
He hopes I can’t see it.
He makes an evil glare,
I make one too.
He makes a questionable look and walks
away as if he knew my intention was not harmful.
As he walks, my adrenaline slowly cools down
and my body is at ease.
I go about my business and so does he.
Maryum Abdullah

I see you walk out of the houseevery morning for school, looking likeeverything is ﬁne.
But your scars show you’re not.
I watch as you walk to school
frowning and trying to wipe away
your bruised face that I see wasblessed with severe burdens, and as
I walk up to confront you, you
put a fake smile on your faceto smooth your pain. But your eyes
still look red, and I can see
the fountain of tears still rollingfrom your eyes. You tell me
they’re tears of happiness.
Maryum Abdullah

Relation
Hate is to closed ﬁst
as love is like a trap,
which means love is hard to obtain.
Trust me, I know
which means everything is different now
after losing someone special.
Now it is getting dark;
I am starting to lose my mind
and forget everything else.
Truth is as hard to obtain as lies
and as easy to lose as friends.
Demetrius Gibbs

43

If I had the power to...
If I had the power to be a child again
I would see my father one last time
before he leaves me.
I would not even be mad about him leaving.
People keep telling me that I look exactly like my father
but I don’t know what to say because
I don’t know what he looks like.
I really want to see my father.
Johnathan Richardson

Kamikaze
Have you seena silver rose
growing inside a star?
I have seen a jetturn into an ice cube.

The Power of the WorldIf I had the power to make the world better,
I would take the guns off the street
and everyone would get along with each other.
I would make sure people have a house to live inand no one would be homeless.
If I could be God, everyone would be alive still
because I don’t like hearing about someone getting shot.
If I could bring one person back it would be my brother, Boo-man
because ever since he died nobody acts the same in my family.
If I could turn back time, I would be the one that took
the bullet that my brother took in the headthen my family would feel the same way they feel about him,
but if it was me, I wouldn’t have to worry about
my brother not being here.
But I can’t do any of this because
I don’t have the power to make the world a better placeand I can’t be God
but I do wish I could bring my brother back alive.
Tamekica Heckstall

44

But no silver rose
grows inside a star.
Bruce Brown

ull

ah

ry

m

d
Ab

Ma

I see the stars at night glowing all over the sky.
I hear the owls hooting at the crack of dawn.
I feel the pain every night when people are dying
and getting hurt on the street.
I also feel bad for people who starve and can’t eat.
In the future, I hope all of that gets left behind.
People are dying and crying over people
who shouldn’t die so young.

uLegacyShanice Parker

Inside the Beautiful Sun
If I were to go inside the sun
I would bathe in its burning ﬂames
It would feel like I was in a boiling pot of soup
If I were to look out of the sun
I would see every planet and meteor in the universe
I would jump on every comet that comes pass the sun
And every time I jump back into the sun, it would
rotate faster and faster than it usually does
After, I would grab the tail of the milky way
and ride it like a roller coaster until I get tired
I would see red ﬁery pits, then every planetin the solar system will form around the sun
in different places, until I say, “back into place.”
That is what I would do if I went inside the sun.
Reginald Conway

SHANICES – bloody red puddle running the side of someone’s body.
H – the color black that everyone sees when their lives are taken away.
A – the deep blue ocean that people have been dying in.
N – the bright yellow sun that shines when the rain goes away.
I – ice pink that reminds me of the ﬂowers like blossoms that bloom outside.
C – orange sunset that shimmers the sky when it gets dark.
E – the white color you see when you are an angel in heaven.
Shanice Parker

45

Struggling into the New YearI am struggling into a new year
and the old years are stuck to me.
Stuck like a strong glue
or a wad of gum
that I found under my shoe.
It’s going to be hard
to let go of my childhood memories,
but I know I have to do it.
How? I don’t know,
but I’ll ﬁnd a way to get through it—
I always do.
How? I will do it by thinking
what a twelve-year-old middle schooler
should be thinking about.
I’ll think about the things I’ll do this year,
I’ll think about the future,cause it’s a New Year.
Jasmine Murray

My Name
Yesterday, my name was nightmare,because I didn’t go outside until it was dark.
Today, my name is magic,
because when I am on the basketball court,
people say that I make most everything
like it is magic.
But I think tomorrowthat my name is going to be lonely,
because there will be nothing to do
but go to school and then come homeand go to sleep.
My secret name is baby AI.
Kenith Curtis

My Real NameMy real name sounds like music
Yesterday my name was sweetie
Tomorrow my name will be unbelievable
My friends think that my name is an echo in the valley
The police think my name sounds like a wrinkle
My parents think my name is blue blossom
My grandmother thinks it sounds like history
Secretly I know my name is moment of silence
Ashley Stevenson46

Vowels
A, red, the thickest glass in the room has a bright shadow
E, brown, the sweetness from the seagull that’s wearing a uniform
I, purple, hurtful things that banshees and cyclops were saying to each otherO, pink. Pink has teardrops rolling down on the gypsy sandpaperU, green, a mahogany pyramid with things inside of it
er,

C

rl
ha

es T

h o m psonl-r: T
y sh

aun

Tu
r

n

Ashley Stevenson

Pain
Pain has taught me to protect myself
on the dark streets of D.C.
Pain has taught me the meaning of reality
and that there are limits to what you can do.
Pain has taught me how to live independently
and fend for myself alone.
Pain can teach you lessons
that help you in life,and don’t.
Luqman Abdullah

Truth
A half-empty glass is more like an empty heart than it is like love.
Hate is to a closed ﬁst as love is like a kiss.
Down is like up when open is like closed.
The sails on the ship moved like a bird’s feather.
My life is like blank pages, as wasted as a plate with no food.
Truth is as hard to obtain as a good cheesecake
and as easy to lose as your life.
Tamekica Heckstall

A Poeta poet is a meteor
blazing past others
without being
noticeda poet is a shadowthat is unnoticed
by people because it only
comes out when lightis on one side
Dontrey Bell47

Philosophy
I am a very shy butterﬂy.
I believe that unknown places can be scary at midnight.
It’s not my fault that water gets frozen when it rains.
I wonder if I will ever get a chance to go to Paris.
When I grow up, I want to have a beautiful castle.
There is no one who doesn’t have a heart like glowing lights.
Whey should people be sad when they can be happy?
I hope that shy people like me will show their true feelings.
I want to be remembered as a blue heartbeat.
I am afraid of tornados, but not of crazy people.
Quaniesha Holmes

Name
My real name is a silver moment of glory.
Yesterday my name was an echo, a splash of music.
Tomorrow my name will be misty memory, blossoming laughter.
My friends call me smiley junior;
They think my name means happiness.
Unknown people think my name is a magical shining star at night.
My parents know my name is glistening heaven that voices call.
Secretly, I know my name is a silk feather at midnight.
Alicia Williams

What Is My Name?
My name is Franzel.
My Grandma calls me sugar-honey-baby.
My sister calls me immature.
Yesterday my name was Willoby.
Today it is Johnny Bravo.
Some girls call meWill you be my Willoby?
It’s an illusion, so I call one girl the goose
For now, I don’t know what is my name.
Franzel Willoby

48

lK
hel

N ic

I am a soaring butterﬂy
I believe inlong relationships and glowing friendships
It’s not my fault that we are
falling girls and fearless boys
I wonder if someone will build mea princess palace in RomeWhen I am outside, I play in the snow
There is no explaining
to powder-pink cheetahs and lime green hearts
Why are people sad?
And why aren’t people invisible?
I hope that the lit candle never dies
I want to be remembered as a loved sunset
I am afraid of unknown places
but not of bright windows
And I’ve never been in severe darkness
If you want to understand me
you must go east of light blue street

eeAbout Me

Shambriel Metts

My Real NameMy real name is silent laughter.
Yesterday my name was illusion of glory.
Tomorrow my name will be precious memory.
My friends think my name is shining wonder.
The police think my name is heartbreak.
My parents think my name is delicate music.
Secretly, I know my name is history.
DeJon Tucker

I Am
I am like a black Jaguar
that is running past a white rose.
I am like a white tiger
racing through the rain.
I am like a dragon
falling faster than a meteor.
I am like a dark blue dragonﬂy
driving an automobile through the snow.
Shawn Murchison

49

Colored Vowels
Shiny red A, like an apple, andbefore I even take a bite I cansmell the sweetness andtaste it as well.
Blue E, like my warm sweater;
E is for emptiness, like clear.
I, black like smoke in the air.
I is for in control.
O, glittery and silver,
Outstanding as it can be.
U is brown like my skin.
Smooth and round, U stands for unicorn;Royal it will be.
Kiauna Hamilton

I learned from it
I learned going out in the snow
and coming in the house andresting your hands in hot water
will really hurt.
But I learned from it.
Putting on other people’s glasses,
I learned from it.
Touching wet paint?
Learned from it.
Disrespecting teachers—
learned from it.
Fake friends, learned from them.
I’ve been there and done that,but I did not learn it all.
Kiauna Hamilton

The Real Me
I am a tornado in the shape of a cylinder, and very silver.
I believe that an unknown story could bring sadness and madness.
It’s not my fault that I am a south-side chick from the east.
I wonder how would it taste to eat frozen yogurt in the winter.
When I eat lunch at home, I feel good and it’s yummy in my tummy.
There is no meaning to an unknown story.
Why can’t invisible people be made known?
I hope that one day, people will realize that I am in a twilight candle.
I want to be remembered as a fearless person.
I am afraid of spiders, but not of people.
And I never knew that a glowing glass shoe could break so easily.
If you want to understand me, you must ﬁnd out who the real me really is.
Regina Abraham50

Tanisha Wright

Diary Entry
yesterday the sun didn’t come out
instead it rained all day
so I didn’t go to see a movie at Rivertowne
they were not showing Bad Boyz, Scary Movie
or Hostage, I didn’t pay for a ticket and I
didn’t buy popcorn or soda.

a in

sh G

C h eriLife is so unfair.
It’s like being trapped in a closet;
It’s like screaming out with no remorse.
Going around trying to make a friend
and you try and try, but you can’t hide it.
You try to walk away, but you argue and say
I’m tired of being pushed around.
You just go out and scream
Life is unfair! Life is unfair!
But you gotta be a soldier
and you make a friend
and before she makes the wrong choice
you tell her life is unfairesLife is Unfair

Why?
Why kick my shin?
When you know it’s a sin
Why you knock my knee?
Let’s sit down and drink tea
Why carry a gun?
When playing and getting along
With each other is much more fun?
John Brunson

I didn’t go outside, I didn’t run from a dog
and I didn’t eat chicken.
Joseph Woodard

Strange Day
one day we got a new table
the next thing I know we had no cableit was a bad day it felt like my heart was falling
I went home and started callingthough no one answered
I was home alone
I got in the house
I looked in the fridge
ﬁxed me a sandwich
I sat in a chair andthen scratched my hair
Isiah Jackson

51

My True NameMy real name is heartbeat, because I’m alive.
I wonder if there’s something out in the world for me.
I believe that I could travel, heavenly in silence.
I want my name to go down in history,
like America’s Bandstand.
When I was born, my mother gave me a namethat will blossom forever.
My Grandmom wept for days when she heardthat she brought a new soul to this earth.
There was a moment of glory
when I opened my eyes for the ﬁrst time.
To me, my name is like rough music, just listen to me talk.
I hear voices in my headsaying take a walk across that magic bridge.
My name to people is an unseen thing, like it’s private.
Laughter is all around the room when I walk in.
Today my name is lonely,
like a splash of ﬂuttering in my nightmare.
To me, the mirror shows a texture of growth.
I will rise and worship my name forever.
Shamia House

BeliefIce
Ice turns to water
Just like a ﬂy turns to die.
A lily turns to a possum
Like a tiger turns into a striped cat.
Diving turns into swimming;
Jumping turns into leaping.
The sun turns into a sunﬂower
andFighting turns into friendship.
Markela Izlar

Pain is in my grandmother’s body, said the doctor.
The night lengthens through the months of cold weather.
What I live for is my dreams coming true.
Who I love is always with me.
What I hope for is my family to succeed.
But I say to myself, we will always
be together no matter what.
Then toward morning, I think ofwill my grandmom, mom, and my family make it today?
Yet as one, we reunite
Shamia House52

My NameB r uceBro

wn

My name is a sweet name.
It’s just like candy.
Yesterday, my name was like a blossom, like a ﬂower.
Today, my name is precious because of the things I did.
Tomorrow, my name will be magic,
like a wizard pulling me out of a hat.
The voice that echoes through me
tells me that I can do wondrous things.
My friends think that I’m unseen
because they don’t see the real me.
My parents think I’m delicate for my personality.
Secretly, my name is silence, for my unknown voice.
Danielle Blake

Thinking About the People In New Orleans
I am thinking about what I am going to do
I hear my pencil moving in the stillness of the silence on paper
I’m thinking of people in New Orleans
Did they come back to the city or are they still in shelters?
I wish I could help
I am thinking about what I could do to help
the people of New Orleans
This only makes me think of my loved ones and how protective
I am. I am very hurt because of those left behind.
I am just thinking and now I have an idea
That’s what thinking can do for you.
Diamond Bedney

Definitions
Memory, the smell of my mother’s sweet potato pie on Thanksgiving Day.
Failure, the look on my face when I got a C on my test.
Autumn, the way the pink, orange and brown fall to the ground
Generation, the way my grandmother followed her dreams and made her own business
Marché Shields

53

Keep the Peace
I don’t like violence
I don’t see the point
too many gunsin the joint
it’s a neighborhood
for families not a war zone
we just want peaceand no more guns becauselaughter is much more fun
don’t stick me up
I don’t have much
I only have my smile, my tone,
my space, my family anda nice place
keep the peaceloose the guns, we don’t needmore in the world
we just want to have fun
Joseph Woodard

The Boogeyman
he is creepy, he is sneaky
he makes boys and girls scared
can you bear to hear thisoh dear! His eyes are
red he creeps under your bed
he has one more on the top of his head
if you scream you’ll think you’re in a dreamit will feel so real that’s why some people
take sleeping pills.
Anthony Sterling

The Confusion of a Backward Witch
The witch didn’t ﬂy on her broom
She didn’t put a spell on anyone
She didn’t take anything from anybody
She didn’t sleep when the sun came out
She didn’t even kidnap children for dinner
She wasn’t ever mean to anyone.
Ashley Walker

Color of Vowels
A. Scarlet mercury. You are hungry means red light, red oceans.
E. Silver, the color of money. Cents the color of the silver midnight sky.
I. Golden, the color of a just-baked cake.
O. Green, which is the color of a uniform.
U. Pink, the color of jealousy when you are cheating.
Tanisha King

54

e

th

Mo

na

i
Sm

My PS2PS2 you’re like a rosea cherry wild rose
you are a diamond shining
in the darkness of my bedroom
you shine with love
you give me a hug
you’re sweet like candy
dancing around me
when I walk to school
I think about ﬂying with you
you look at me and say,“hey” and as I’m walking
down the street I lookdown and see my feetand I listen to the sound of
the beat on the street
then I go home andI eat, eat, eat.
Malik Kenney

Oranges Everywhere
I woke up this morning with an orange on my bed. I looked out the window, there were oranges
everywhere. From tree to tree and house to house there were oranges all about. I raced down
the stairs to tell my Mom but she already knew, in fact she had an orange head with an orangey
nose. She ran up to me and said, “Help me, there are orange heads everywhere, just look andsee.” I looked outside and everybody had an orange head. I walked to my friend’s house and I
knocked on her door. She told me to, “Taste the oranges there so sweet and sour.” I told her I
didn’t have time I had to be back in an hour and she stuffed an orange in my mouth. I made a facethen swallowed it down and climbed the orange tree to pick some more. I went into the houseto get a basket to hold the oranges then we both went back to my house. My Mom told us what
had happened. She said, “Don’t eat the oranges, there is something wrong with them, if you eat
them they will turn you into orange heads.” We looked at each other, my friend and I, and she
screamed, “Your face is orange.” We ran to the bathroom and tried to wash it off but then my headgrew bigger and bigger and bigger. Soon our heads looked like oranges, we both started screaming
louder and louder and louder. Then I woke up and realized it was all just a dream.
Crishauna Gay

55

Sapphire
Sapphire you’re so cool
you’re so blue like the sky
Sapphire you’re so brightyou bring me light
Sapphire you come in all
shapes like a triangle ora blue grape
Sapphire you’re so beautiful
and great I love your color
you’re as soft as the kissesfrom my mother you
have the hue of a blueberry
and to me you smell sweeter
than cherries
Jasper Hicks

Orange Grove
there is an orange grove growing
in my garden. The oranges growing
from those branches are sweeter
than my young Zeyla out there on theback porch. So sweet the juice makes mymouth water when I think of my orange grove.
Gregory Sam

My Sport
I’m Keyonna
Baroness of Basketball
I’ll show you how to jumphigh in the air likean emergency ﬂair
reach for the stars
bounce a ballfrom the moon to mars
you see for me basketball is the sport I love
like a dove in the sky I ﬂy highwhen I play my game they sing my namethe crowd shouts it out loudas I walk real proud withmy head held high as they shout,“Keyonna Baroness of Basketball”
Keyonna Plowden

56

What I Didn’t see Him Do
I didn’t see my cousin walking
I didn’t see him talking
I didn’t see him coming
I didn’t see him running
I didn’t see him looking
I didn’t see him cooking
I also didn’t see him hooking
class at Charles Hart Middle School
Stanisha Gaskins

Las Vegas
come with me to Las Vegas
see all the pretty lights
put on your sunglasses or you will lose your sight
if you stay with me I promise you that you’ll have lots of fun
you’ll have so much fun you won’t believe what can be done
we’ll go and play all day and you’ll surely want to stay
if you’re with me you won’t want to leave
there’s lots of games just sitting there waiting to be playedand so that we can win.
Rico Sanchez

A sh le

yS

te v

en

so

n

Right the Wrongs
let your voice be heard
stand up for what you believe in
don’t let no one treat you wrong
if you must, sing a songlet your voice be heard
don’t let them judge us!
we’ve got to stick together
it’s like World War II
all over again, ﬁghting for our rights
they cannot judge us,
we gotta scream,holler and shout
our voices are loud
like a dogs bark,a babies cry, a mothers scream
let your voice be heard
we are strong
we can right the wrongs.
Qediah Chaplin

Sweet Piesweet pie eh!
all kinds I love to try
the crust is so crunchy it makes me sighfor sweet pie, pie that makes the birds go tweet
some people say that is neat I like to heat mineup but I don’t like it in a cup
I will not eat it with a bat
but you don’t want to eat all thator you will get fat,you eat it with a fork, spoon andby hand, I think you cook it
in a pan
Anthony Sterling57

A Strange Day

The Hood

One cold day the snow came heavy
as I walked the mountainI almost fell but didn’t
I made it to the top of the mountainand I saw a little cabin
I drank some cocoa andate oodles of noodles
I watched TV then I drifted off to sleep

the next time I woke up I was home in my bed
so I got up and got ready for school.

come to the hood
where the ghetto become with me to MLK
or come on your own
you’ll ﬁnd your way
we play at the play groundthroughout the day
we in the hood
we do what we canwe got each other’s backand stick together
like thumb tacks
come with me to MLK
or come on your own
you’ll ﬁnd your own way
I don’t know how, or whenor why, but trust me yourheart will be your guide.

Angelo Martin

Qediah Chaplin

when I woke up the sun was shining
there were palm trees everywhere
things seemed different from what I remembered
I was ﬂoating in a pool and there was a Jacuzzi
bubbling on the other side of the pool, I was wearing
swimming trunks and the next thing I was sleeping again

What If Pizzas Grew On Trees?
what if pizza grew on trees?
upon the branches upon the leaves
oh, I like its special taste
I’d eat so much not one piece would go to waste
when I pick one everyone would stopand look at me their mouths would drop
the best tree would be mine‘cause pepperoni is most divine
when it’s gone I’ll plant a seed
and wait for people to observe with greed.
Lance Slaughter

I Dreamsome day I dreamof going to San Francisco
seeing the Golden Gate Bridgewith the water rolling underneathwhen I go I want to jog across the bridgeand sail across that waterthat is my dream
Anthony Bullock

58

Why My Feet Are Important to Me

My Open HeartLet me tell you why I like shoes
Echo: They stop me from having the blues
I like high heels to make me tall
Echo: Normally I am very small
Sometimes I run with sneakers on
Echo: If someone chases me I am gone
I wear Mary Jane’s
Echo: Sometimes they give me foot pain
I love Girl Timberland
Echo: They make me feel oh so grandMy heart is open to you
You can take it but please don’t break it
You can choose it but please don’t lose it
You can keep it, please it, even tease it
My heart is as open as the outside it’s as wide
as an ocean andthat’s because my heart isopen only to you,you and you only.
Quanita Jackson

Ceshelle EvansMedéBlue Baby

rce

Mo
nro

e

you taste sweet like blueberries
you sound charming like a melody
you smell like the sweet aroma of apple pie
you feel like the velvet petals on red roses
Blue baby you make me feel goodon this a catastrophic day.
Richard Mitchell

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in a

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