Summer 2009 • $5
Featuring Poetry Contest Award Winners

The Charles Hart Middle School Literary Magazine

The hArtworks Editorial Board
Writers-in-Residence: Maryum Abdullah, Dwayne Betts, Aaron Brooks, Derrick
Weston Brown, Damon Kee, Nichell Kee, Kiana Murphy, James Saunders,
Nancy Schwalb, and Renita Williams
The Literary Magazine Club: Maryum Abdullah, Eric Armstead, Marcus Barnes,
Sharri Barnes, Amira Bean, Nakia Better, Stelita Better, Aaron Brooks, Jada
Brooks, Fonté Brown, Steven Brown, Jr., Bernice Caldwell, Ashley Cooper,
Nefertearia Crawley, DeArren Dawkins, Jason Goolsby, Jayon Gray, Janine
Green, Devon Hudson, Marcus Johnson, Khalil Jones, Walter Jones, Damon
Kee, Nichell Kee, Shawntay Kent, Marquise Lewis, Edward Marshall, Kiana
Murphy, Kirk Murphy, Kierra Parks, Khadijah Rashad, Steven Reed, Keyama
Robinson, Cristal Sandoval, Marché Shields, Bnyonka Simpkins, Monae Smith,Deon Stover, DarVel Suggs, Lakeisha Thompson, James Tindle, Andre White,
Thomas Whitney, Darien Wilkins, Renita Williams, Sequan Wilson
Cover, l-r: Marcus Johnson, James Saunders, Khalil Jones, Deon Stover, Sequan Wilson, Marcus Barnes
Above, l-r: Marcus Barnes, Lamara Brooks, Marcus Johnson, Kiana Murphy, Steven Reed, Bernice Caldwell,Renita Williams, Monae Smith, Nancy Schwalb, DarVel Suggs, Devon Hudson, Christy Gill, Kirk Murphy

IntroductionW

elcome to the 27th edition of hArtworks, the nation’s only inner-city public middle school literary
magazine, written and edited by the students in the after-school writing club at 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 create a literary renaissance in Southeast Washington.
Now in its eighth year, hArtworks gives our young writers the opportunity to exercise their creative energies,
speak their minds, and be read by an audience throughout the city. The 2009 edition of Poet’s Market recognizes
hArtworks as “an outstanding example of what a literary journal can be (for anyone of any age).”
As another exhilarating school year draws to a close, we have many new triumphs to celebrate. Our students
have written and performed their ninth original adaptation of a classical drama, this year updating Christopher
Marlowe’s “Dr. Faustus” to create “Soul for Sale.” Our young poets have again excelled in writing competitions,fielding more winners than any other middle or high school, public or private, in the Parkmont Poetry Contest.
Congratulations to Parkmont winners Marcus Barnes, Lamara Brooks, Bernice Caldwell, Davon Ford, Devon
Hudson, Khalil Jones, Damon Kee, Nichell Kee, Shawntay Kent, Kiana Murphy, Kirk Murphy, Khadijah Rashad,
Steven Reed, Monae Smith, DarVel Suggs, Renita Williams, and Sequan Wilson. Congratulations also to Imani
Hyman, who won first place in Youth Poetry in the Larry Neal Awards, and to Kierra Parks and Jason Goolsby,
who earned second place and honorable mention in the same category. Also in the Larry Neal Awards, DeamonteGibson won first place in Youth Essay, and James Saunders won second place in Teen Poetry. And in the Junior
League Teen Poetry Competition, Marquise Lewis was the top eighth grade poet in the city. Our students haveread their work at many venues this year, including Busboys and Poets, the American Poetry Museum, Barnes
and Noble, the Smithsonian Museum of American History, and the Afrocentric Books Expo at the Mall at Prince
Georges. To top it all off, they have now published their 27th issue of hArtworks!
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 Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Children’s Fund of
Metropolitan Washington, Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, D.C. Children and Youth
Investment Trust Corporation Project My Time, John Edward Fowler Foundation, Harman Family Foundation,
International Monetary Fund, Lucas-Spindletop Foundation, Mattel Children’s Foundation, Marpat Foundation,
Moran Family Fund, Meyer Foundation, New York Avenue Foundation, Prince Charitable Trusts, Luther Replogle
Foundation, Spring Creek Foundation, Hattie M. Strong Foundation, The Tom Lane Fund, Wachovia Foundation,
Wendling Foundation, Weissberg Foundation, The World Bank, Anonymous, Michael Joy and TSCJoy/Monterey,
LLC, Sarah Booth and Bloomberg L.P., Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, GO! Creative, LLC, the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum, the Arena Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theater, McGuire Williams
Associates, Joyce Page and Ms. Printing, Tollefson & Gustini Investment Management, our friends at Popeye’s on
Malcolm X Avenue, George and Lenore Cohen, Nancy Folger, Janet Horgen, Sharis and Thorn Pozen, Clyde E.
Shorey, Richard Thompson, and Ladislaus von Hoffmann.
Our interns, Abbey Chung, Bernitta Johnson, and James Saunders also deserve our thanks for giving so much of
their time and energy to our after-school Writing Club, as do our volunteers, Helen Hooper and Shannon Rampe.
Special thanks for the hard work and dedication of the D.C. Creative Writing Workshop Board of Directors: MaryAnn Brownlow, Bernie Horn, Michael Joy, Joan Kennan, Aileen Morse, Bill Newlin, Dr. Pat Papero, Raina Rose
Tagle, Nancy Schwalb, and Rosetta Thurman.
We would also like to thank the following administrators, teachers, and staff who are our partners in this endeavor:
Principal Billy Kearny; Assistant Principals Ms. Crystal Cartwright, Lisa Faulkner-Jones, and Mr. Aaran Lurry; Ms.
Elizabeth Davis, Mr. Shawn Fedinez, Ms. Gloria Fergusson, Ms. Christine Gill, Mr. Jeff Griswold, Ms. Josie Johnson,
Ms. Eleanor Seale, Ms. Sherry Dailey, and Ms. Maevern Williams.

Inside

Eric Armstead
After Life............................................................................................................................................26
Long Gone By.....................................................................................................................................30
Maryum Abdullah
Remain Silent.....................................................................................................................................23
Painless..............................................................................................................................................27
Marcus Barnes
His son...............................................................................................................................................11
No Such Thing....................................................................................................................................22
Memory.............................................................................................................................................24
Nakia Better
NAKIA...............................................................................................................................................25
My childhood......................................................................................................................................38
Stelita Better
The Next Day of Fate.........................................................................................................................26
What do you want to be?....................................................................................................................30
The Two Sides of Me...........................................................................................................................37
Lamara Brooks
My Name.............................................................................................................................................3
Bernice Caldwell
I Be.......................................................................................................................................................8
DeArren Dawkins
Boredom.............................................................................................................................................28
Davon Ford
Get Your Elbow Off The Table..............................................................................................................5
We The World....................................................................................................................................46
Pretend...............................................................................................................................................58
Seleen Ford
We Must.............................................................................................................................................44
Jasmon Gassaway
Caught...............................................................................................................................................43
All I Want to Do Is Read the Newspaper.............................................................................................45
Rock in Out T’ang..............................................................................................................................62
Janine Green
Where I’m from..................................................................................................................................18
To My Old Friend...............................................................................................................................36
Malik Green
Thursday............................................................................................................................................56
Zane Harrison
Partying with Mom............................................................................................................................49
Sheldon Hickerson
Success...............................................................................................................................................50
Imani Hinds
Pretend...............................................................................................................................................49
The Current........................................................................................................................................52
Ashley Hinton
But.....................................................................................................................................................60
Devon Hudson
Photo..................................................................................................................................................10
Tai’lon Jackson
Rain T’ang..........................................................................................................................................62
Green light T’ang................................................................................................................................62
Angelique James
Not There...........................................................................................................................................51
Lacrecia Johnson
Forgiveness.........................................................................................................................................57

Marcus Johnson
What It Means To Be From Here........................................................................................................20
Reality................................................................................................................................................31
Tyray Johnson
Poem..................................................................................................................................................52
DaJuan Jones Jr.
Dad I forgive you................................................................................................................................57
Derrean Jones
Phone.................................................................................................................................................58
Khalil Jones
Random..............................................................................................................................................11
D.C. Home.........................................................................................................................................18
The End of the World’s Shadow...........................................................................................................29
Walter Jones
People here.........................................................................................................................................18
I want to forget...................................................................................................................................32
I Lose My Boredom.............................................................................................................................35
Six......................................................................................................................................................53
Tylashia Joyner
Drunk man........................................................................................................................................50
The Old Home....................................................................................................................................54
Dana Kaigler
My Heart...........................................................................................................................................55
Kesahn Kaigler
The Makings of You............................................................................................................................53
Damon KeeI Am Not For School.............................................................................................................................7
Word Play..........................................................................................................................................22
Nichell Kee
Happy New Year..................................................................................................................................1
What Does It Mean?...........................................................................................................................23
Shawntay Kent
Poetic Autobiography.........................................................................................................................12
Untitled..............................................................................................................................................20
Shamiyah King
School Song........................................................................................................................................52
Diantra Landry
Pretend...............................................................................................................................................59
Daja Leonard
Newspaper.........................................................................................................................................46
Dante Lewis
Summer T’ang....................................................................................................................................61
Play=Pain T’ang.................................................................................................................................61
Marquise Lewis
My Resolution......................................................................................................................................1
D.C....................................................................................................................................................17
The Poem with No Name...................................................................................................................23
Human Denial...................................................................................................................................27
My Boring Poem.................................................................................................................................28
Tanasia Lloyd
We......................................................................................................................................................48
Mya Manigan
Caged Bird.........................................................................................................................................40
Edward MarshallForget.................................................................................................................................................36

InsideKyree Matthews
Kidnap...............................................................................................................................................40
Ieshia Mayo
We So Sweet.......................................................................................................................................48
Erica McCrae
I too....................................................................................................................................................45
T’ang Poem........................................................................................................................................61
Marlon McDowell
Athletic...............................................................................................................................................49
Pretend...............................................................................................................................................51
David McIntyre
I, Too..................................................................................................................................................40
Pournew Miller
Abracadabra......................................................................................................................................45
Charlene Monroe
I Am Mad Now..................................................................................................................................60
Christina Moody
Liberty’s Glasses.................................................................................................................................43
News Flash.........................................................................................................................................47
Nyesha Morrow
47 Pictures, 47 Black Faces................................................................................................................41
Michael Muhammad
Football T’ang....................................................................................................................................62
Kiana Murphy
Sleeveless Imagination..........................................................................................................................6
A Vivid Memory.................................................................................................................................14
Confined to the Cracks in the Sidewalk...............................................................................................16
Beyond the District, Beyond Where We Say We Are............................................................................19
The Voices that Create the Mind.........................................................................................................21
Poem For A Burning Heart.................................................................................................................31
What it’s like to keep a secret (for those who haven’t)..........................................................................33
Kirk Murphy
From One to Another...........................................................................................................................7
What I see and feel.............................................................................................................................25
Never.................................................................................................................................................33
What It’s Like to Live Your Last Minute of Life...................................................................................35
Kierra Parks
To Get Water........................................................................................................................................3
A Day I Want to Forget......................................................................................................................32
Down, But Not Out............................................................................................................................47
Khadijah Rashad
The Day that You Are Going to Have....................................................................................................4
Steven Reed
The True Definition of a Man...............................................................................................................4
I Am from D.C...................................................................................................................................17
Keyama Robinson
Distance.............................................................................................................................................28
Niya Rogers
The Sky..............................................................................................................................................56
Cristal Sandoval
Mask..................................................................................................................................................29
James Saunders
The Poem of the Widow’s Son...............................................................................................................2
Winter Sky (A rant)...........................................................................................................................15

Davaugntae Shepherd
A Young Boy.......................................................................................................................................55
Courtney Slater
Deferred.............................................................................................................................................44
All I want to do is read the newspaper................................................................................................46
Monae Smith
I am.....................................................................................................................................................9
Kourtnee Spencer
Pretend...............................................................................................................................................59
DarVel Suggs
My Winter Experience........................................................................................................................10
American Trees...................................................................................................................................21
Unwanted..........................................................................................................................................24
Coming to Southeast...........................................................................................................................32
Dreams..............................................................................................................................................38
Cassandra Taylor
My Life Is Like...................................................................................................................................56
Lakeisha Thompson
What it means to come from D.C.......................................................................................................63
Sanchez Threadgill
Remember..........................................................................................................................................54
Chernell Tillman
My Hair T’ang.......................................................................................................................................
62...........................................................................................................................................................
James Tindle
O, Graceful Weapons.........................................................................................................................37
Graceful Weapons, Come (A Sequel)..................................................................................................39
Streaks...............................................................................................................................................39
Mom’s Last Confessional.....................................................................................................................41
When I told of my penpal’s anorexia...................................................................................................42
Telly Tinker
History...............................................................................................................................................54
What I Don’t Know............................................................................................................................56
Devonte Tolbert
We Box...............................................................................................................................................48
Charmaine Walker
A Child’s Biggest Dream.....................................................................................................................56
Thomas Whitney
Why She Married That Man..................................................................................................................
29...........................................................................................................................................................
Renita Williams
The Time Is Right to Make....................................................................................................................8
Profile................................................................................................................................................13
Crazy.................................................................................................................................................25
Unique Signature................................................................................................................................34
Sequan Wilson
Unforgettable.......................................................................................................................................9(?)......................................................................................................................................................15
Untitled..............................................................................................................................................26
Look...................................................................................................................................................34#1.......................................................................................................................................................36
Danisha Woodard
Such a Fool.........................................................................................................................................44
Kenard Wyatt
I remember.........................................................................................................................................50

Featured
Poems

Winnersof the Parkmont Poetry Contest,
the Larry Neal Awards, andthe Junior League Teen Poetry Competition

Featured
Poems

My Resolution
I am slithering into a new beginning:
Not completely there,
But finding my way.
Promise ahead and tragedy is behind me
Divided by a brick wall that must come down.
Like a wrecking ball to an old building,Fire to fire causes nothing but more fire.
I am slithering into a new beginning
So I crawl away from the past.

Last year was just as bad
Maybe a bit calmer, but still the usual
Thunderstorm of pain
Flashes of confusion
Thoughts, questions come storming in
How can a heart beat if it’s broken?

ew
se L

I crawl into the new year
Expecting a change
But not really seeing a difference
I can already see the clouds rolling in
Struggle hits me like lightning
Burning my shyness and bringing with it a rain of agony

M arqui

Happy New YearisMarquise Lewis

ch
Ni

ell K

ee

That year I thought I went flying into it
This year I peeked in on the cold month
And went crashing down
The year just started
Already I’m trapped by guilt
Burning a hole in my mind
How long shall I be trapped?
I’ll wait until it passes, just like every year
Nichell Kee

1

Featured
Poems

The Poem of the
Widow’s Son
Dat pretty lightskin lady wit dapretty butta skin and da rubyred fingerwaves,singin’ dat song she always be
singin’. It’s just her voice makin’
love with the piano. I be listenin’.

J a m e s S a u nd er s

I see it goin’ down in a smoky grayand black room. It smell like cigarettes
and Stetson and polished bullets. Nobody’s
talking. Dey just payin’ close, close attention
to the love scene. All these dudes
got on suits and hats wit da featherson ‘em. And dey listenin’ jus like I be.
She be singin’ “Love don’t live here
anymore.” The piano always got theright thing to say back to herlicorice lyrics. They get along so good.
It’s like one of the silly fairy tales
we read about in skool, dat ain’t real.
And if they is real, then it ain’t forlong cuz they always die.
Fairy tales die and leave you in anightmare. Like momma when daddy died.
Daddy gone and you know he ain’t comin’
back. Now all momma got is that
piano and me to love.
James Saunders

2

Featured
Poems

My NameIn the morning, my name feels deadly
In the afternoon, my name feels real
Outside, my name feels loudAt the end of school, my name feels happy
The next day, my name feels good
Going to school, my name feels magic.
When my friends call me,
when I write my name,it feels secret.
My name feels funnywhen I make my friends laugh.
My name feels like music
When people say it.

L

a
am

ooks
ra Br

Lamara Brooks

To Get Water
A poem is a flame of firethat thrashes in the forestthat makes pain come andforces people to get out whileother people are getting wet.
A poem knits rhymes
together and takes pride in
their work, that forces other kids
to know what to do,that freezes kids’ brains and curls
their hair. A poem isa squirmy letter that writes
what you think and calms down
what they think, somethingthat makes you feel dread
to read it, that makes you feel
disgust, because they have to.
ieK

Kierra Parks

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s

3

The True Definition of a Man

FeaturedPoems

I was told the true definition ofa man was never cry, work till
you die, got to provide,
always be the rock for my family
and protect them by all means,a poem gives me the chance toexpress what I want, I see
about what a man’s to be,
but I know a true man shouldbe able to express his feelings mentally,
and I don’t see anything wrong
with men showing feelings physically.
A poem helps me get over break-ups
and sorrow,also brings me hope when I dreadfor tomorrow.

The Day that You
Are Going to Have
Forget the pool
Forget the wind
And don’t forget
To pay your rent
It’s a holiday, haveSome joy, forget
About the squeak
Just picture food
Inside your headDon’t forget totoss the salad
Don’t forget about
Pie crust, justPicture the moon
Light and enjoy
The bread and picture
The plate you’reGoing to have.

Steven ReedSte

Khadijah Rashad

Kh
ad

i ja

h

Ra

4

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ad

ven

Reed

Featured
Poems

Get Your Elbow Off The Table
I was raised by get your elbow
off the table, don’t never say you’re
not able, get dat money real faithfultype of family.
Always on my back, never let meslack, they always stay packed
Do anything for me, loved me to themax type family.
Get your butt in this housefore I tear you up. Always
drinking out the juice cup
type family.
Tore up off the goose
put a lil cranberry in it to
give it a boost, come overhere and give Grandma asmooch type family.
Hand me the remote righthere beside me, move out of
the way of the TV I can’t see
type family.
Come here boy, then smack
me in my head, I know you
ain’t wet your bed, even though
I did, I’d tell her it’s water instead
type family.
You better do your homework
beat with the belt had me crying
like water type family.
Davon Ford

5

Featured
Poems

Sleeveless Imagination
Falling of the leaves
Frostbite of words
Defrosting of an empty mind
Bitter blackened
Footprints
Engraved beneath the soggy foundation
Heartburn eruptingInternal hail
Mixture of emotion

K ia

na M

urphy

Temperature changes
Adjusting to the hypothermia
Of a hand losing feeling
Spite inside an abandoned house
The hinges behind a frozen door
Lost in thought, broken emptiness
Boneless structure
Defines the atmosphereOf a chill sneaking into the anger
Decay, fire beyond unreasonable
Caressing the invisible flakes
No longer in original form
Pale
Chapped lips
Fingertips numb
Shivering among the sudden transactions
Wind watering the naked eye
Warmth under the extra clothing
Winter freezes a summer mind
Collapsing warm thoughts, destroying crimson love
Kiana Murphy

6I Am Not For School

Featured
Poems

From One to AnotherMy father’s eyes would define minelike a silent voice yelling in yourindescribable thoughts.
My prayers are as similar as mymom’s gift to god.
Like the son of an unloving dad, praying
for his dad to return.

Long lessons trying to stayawake day dreams
forever etched in my head
thinking of the fun I had
the day before
party it was greatbut my shadow looks so coola creation of the sun
my half-baked brain
can’t process fast enoughI’m not for school
the bell has wings when it rings
I guess I’m done.
Damon Kee

m
Da

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ee

My thankfulness is what my dad andmom combine.
Like the sourness a lemon brings
but can return with sweetness andlusciousness of lemon aid.
Kirk Murphy

Ki
rk

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y

7

Featured
Poems

The Time Is Right to Make
The time is right to make
The world a better place forkids also adults to live better
all the colorblind people could see
bright as day

I Be
I be of DC
I be a block from Eastover
I be having glitter in my hair
I be goofy all the time
I be happy all the time
I be cute a lot
I be having nothing to do
playing with my puppy I be
eating popcorn on the couch I be
Wingate all the time. I be
school I be all the fun times
I be loving my family I be
I be happy because the world makes
me and I be
Bernice Caldwell

Be

The time is right tocare for people who are disabled
and not laugh. Toss up the hating
and become happy.
The moon speaks louder than the sun
my heart beats more than it’ssupposed to when I see someone instress. I always try to give an extra hand.
The time is right towarm the frostbitten fingers
from cold snow. I plant my seeds
into the clouds above to make me abetter person.
Renita Williams

Re8

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Featured
Poems

q

n
ua

Wil

son

I am
I am capableof accomplishing
all my goals,
I amkilling soulswith blankwords,
tarnishingpromiscuous dreams.
My gaze isslowly observing
an endless soultearing awayfrom an unkempt
body.
I believe inconquering homelands,
tranquility overflowing,souls and spiral windows.
Monae Smith

Mo

nae

S m i thUnforgettable
The sky becomes obscene,
Fading to a sudden green,
Hearts get heavy, along with their breath,
Bodies shiver, but they keep it to themselves,
Visible air thrives for attention,
And chills deserve an honorable mention,
Feet sing an unforgettable but all the same tune,“Don’t forget to buy boots for me soon,”Thin jackets fade, replaced by something insulated
Or is it coats that are fabricated?
Something I really haven’t debated
Unlikely tunes start to soundLike “Silent Night” and “Santa’s Coming to Town”
The endings of our summers of discontent
This winter, the snow shows new moments well spent.
Sequan Wilson

9Featured
Poems

Photo
Picture you in the backgroundAnd me in the front
Eyes older than a wooden table
Face looks like a tinted masksonDevon Hudson

My Winter ExperienceDe

The days are being broken
Each one getting shorter
I hesitate to go outside
Below 30 degrees it is
I look on the faces of children
Outside freezing
Their faces are ivory
Just like the snow
Coming inside to taste
The bittersweet tea
The warmth sends comfort
All through your bones
DarVel Suggs
D

10

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el S
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s

H
von

ud

Featured
Poems

His sonWell, I wish that my father was living right now
because I really miss him very much
but when he had passed away I was mad because
he was the only person that really cared about me
because he always had love for me and I had love for him
And he really looked out after me
so I would not get lost andI love him
because of the things that he did for me
and he once said that if he dies or leaves my side
he would pass down his favorite things in the world And he gave mea shirt and he called it the shirt of forgivenessand he also gave me a ring that he loved and always wore
and he called it the ring of love and happinessand he gave those two items to me keep if he passed
but he also said that the shirt and the ring represent you and me
and my father said that he would hate to lose me
because I was his one and also only caring, loving son.
a
sB

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Ma

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Marcus Barnes

RandomThree red robins, one blue jay
flying down the street
As I see them fly
I see the trees, I see deer and wolves
I walk down the road andI see the church with a cross on top
and when I look up
I see the lions playing in the sky,
the rectangle-shaped casket
Of all my dead poems
Khalil Jones

Kh

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il

Jo

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s

11

Shaw

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en

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Featured
Poems

Poetic Autobiography
And even though I remember
the slurred, soothing wordsof my mother while
she bathed me,
I failed tounderstand the factthat she had an
addiction to a thing
she called grey goose,the thing that madeher feel goodwhen no one else
was there to
put the broken pieces together,and when her bottle
was emptied of her
sinful concoction

12

I was there toaccept her for her,and give her
the love she
had sought fromthe lover that
only corrupted her,but your biographers
never understand.
Shawntay Kent

Da

el S
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s

ProfileFall through the sea
I can’t see you through me
But I will fall from the sky
So you can be with me
Yellow brick roadFeels so coldYour heart is so red and bold
If I don’t feel it, it will grow moldYour voice is so gooey and sweet
Like it came right off a honeybee
Blue and purple sky
Tears fall from my eye
As my evil side waves bye
The angel you are, halo over your headAs you lie in the white, comfy bed
Dreaming about ladybugs flying away
While in your smile, gasp, and growl
You’re always on the prowl
Knock, knock at the door, wanting more
I love the way you explore
The way you speak
Don’t miss a beat
Whole time the poem is about me
Renita Williams

13

A Vivid Memory
Crimson eyes
Body language foreshadowing
An unheard secret.
Rain,
Creates saltwater
A taste that flows…
I tried to tell her:This is all a dream,
I wish I could have been there.
You’re defeated, so am I.
Down beneath the depths of my empty heart,
I feel your pain.
But my scattered words
Created confusion
I choked on the sound of the heart I could hear cracking,With every part of truth, a lie in my mind.
Chocolate skin, bright smile, eyes so amazing
A sight I adore seeing,
As much as fate wishes upon me.
Unexpected departure,
From our isolated place
I feel the heartburn once again
The sun blinds me,
I feel as though I’ve failed her.
Kiana Murphy

14Winter Sky(A rant)
Why can’t this opaque purgatory that isthe deity exist as my flame?
i will focus assiduously on the black,desolate heart of this flame.
i will chant frantically until I acquire
the divine powers of a yogi.
i will worship you day & night.

hyurp
Kirk M

But you deny me.
When humanity complained & moaned, when
you spoke to us & the frigid wind stirred,
i listened, recognized and loved
your power.
But you don’t care.
The imperceptibly vast, the uncontrollable
unbuckled, unfastened, RAW force that is
the sky…Doesn’t mess with me.
Forever we’ve been insignificant dots
on a line plot, submissive to your reign.
And i’ve never wanted it any other way.
But you have no sym- nor em- pathy
for my dreams. You just tell me
to endure and die.
i guess around this time of year
you’re too gritty, too guttere, andi’m still chasing theremnants of summer.
James Saunders(?)
I saw the unspeakable:
Without a warning, I was reduced to tears,
Not a dry eye was found, no eye was clear.
I saw the unpredictable,
Your heart was responding, barely,
But I heard no voice, was I somber? Very.
I heard the unthinkable,
Over which no one had power,
You’ll leave us within 2 hours.
I listened to the unnamable
Psalms and spoken words collide,
But I’m still dead inside,
Why am I not yet over it?
I won’t feel happiness yet,
Until I face the inevitable facts,
I’ll never be over it because light won’t come back.
The apple of my eye has been spoiled rotten,
In my heart, you’ll never be forgotten,
Now, my voice’ll never be heard,
So, I’ll close this, without saying a _____.
Sequan Wilson

15l-r : F

on t

éB

ro
w

n
,K

ier

ra
P ar

ks

Confined to the Cracks
in the Sidewalk
You have the right to remain silent,
locked behind the hate trap
the cuffs of steel cemented on the mind.
Pushed up against the riches
no longer an experience I want to capture
High-fashioned architecture, high-priced chandeliers
The rags of my life,
manipulating the patches of clothing that bring me together
pronunciation of cruelty, vacancy of words, thoughts, actions.
Sheltered within my cold heart,breeze from continuous empty days
massive explosions of my frost-bitten mind lying on the curb
Maniacal breath shoving freedom out of my mindrefusing to be the refugee of rough security.
My feet are swollen from personal mischief
my body shaken from life’s grasp.
Erase the black footprints from a cold heart.
Kiana Murphy

16

D.C.
Drugs, alcohol, and violence.
Things that people refer
to when they hear D.C.
That’s what is in D.C., notwhat it means to be from D.C.

I Am from D.C.
Not from Maryland,
but from D.C.
Many people from here
are pugnacious.
Many people live in
perpetual beefs.
You walk down the street
into the wrong community,
then you might get beat.
My life is a little different,
I don’t care what people think of me.
I have a mission,
not to be another terrible statistic.
Being African-American,
people look at us strange,
like we don’t have a brain.
Everyone does, but it is your choice
to use the knowledge.
Many don’t use it correctly
and make mischievous decisions,
not caring about a consequence
until the mind is made up
about what it wants to do.

To me it means…
Jump rope in the middleof the street, soul food on
Thanksgiving, with fried chicken
and sweet potatoes.
Public schools and children
all over. Cheese buses and metro
stations early in morning.
Hard times and painful sorrows
finally come to the light.
Loud go-go and mischievous kids
fill the late-night streets.
Eternal wounds scarred by the
judgment of flamboyant community.
Through the good and the bad,you stay through it all. So, before
you think of D.C., knowwhat it’s liketo be from D.C.
Marquise Lewis

I’m from D.C. with a mission:
It’s not where you’re from, butwhat you want to become.
Steven Reed

17

:

ak

ett

e

qu a w n

Jo nesl-r

People here

N

B
ia

ay
r, D

People are not normal
They all hate this worldof discrimination and violence
In this world, not right for D.C.
Is there no love for public transportationsuch as the train or bus?
Town houses built just to be destroyed
What is D.C.?
A beloved city of war
Walter Jones

D.C. Home
D.C., where should I begin?
The question is: what, where, when?
I love it, but there’s so much to dislike,
Like stabbings, shootings, attempts to end your life.
But love to learn, learn to love, I guess.
Oh, one thing I didn’t tell you yet—Think twice before you move here, got it?
Khalil Jones

Where I’m from
I’m from the place where people kill,
Where people steal,
Where there’s so much beef in one li’l city,
Where no one feels pity.
Homeless people on the street,
I don’t know what else to say.
People only look for the hate in D.C.
Instead of the love or good things that are
happening.
They need to look for the positive,
Instead of the negative.
Janine Green18

Beyond the District, Beyond Where We Say We Are
Sorrow from disappointment
The television ads are our salvation
SmartTrip doesn’t get us far
But we get to where we need to be
Nowhere…

Mambo sauce
Brainwashes the mind
Addicted to this, my life expectancy has
decreased

Everything’s the sameDay by day
Boredom controls us all

Go-go beats
My heart into another dimension
Desire to dance toward sin

Violence erupts
Kids smilin’
They never knew what hit ‘em

Scared of your shadow
These streets are from the damp and dark places
That give us a chill, a sudden fear

The national anthem doesn’t unite us
It gives us a reason to believe
Things can never be done rightEverything is given to us
But it’s always turned downLife is so much harder

Eternal silence
The tension is unbearable
This place has a different lifestyle

Violation of all aspects
You can never own what you’ve never had
Everybody isn’t treated the same

School isn’t taken seriously
Texts turn into our own personal creation
Self-taught, maybe it’ll get you somewhere

People don’t care
About the things they bring into this world
Things just run astray
Thoughts are clustered
Focus is destroyed
Failure. Drop out.
We exist beyond the golden arch
Power is our main source of anger
Money creates this frustrationtus

We are among the unknown
We are expected to achieve great things
Our presence ignites skepticism

l-r: De on

Sto v

er,

.F
Dr

au

s

The star on the map
We are creators of this asylum
Kiana Murphy

19

Untitled
Are the words the reason
that I have to writethese things that they believe
are magnificent?
My fingers cramped up
from the thousands of words
that littered my paper, that showed my creativity
and the potential that only I possessed.
I am the newfound,raw, untouched,
new knowledgeof my generation.
Shawntay Kent

What It Means To Be From Here
What it means to be from D.C.
Just stop, look up, and take a good look at me
Custom-made fitteds,
shockerz and bony jeans
Ice on the chain
lookin’ something mean
In high school right now
but still hustlin’ in da streets
Money known as cream
dat’s one hell of a treat
reppin’ hoods, stealin’ cars, sittin’ ‘hind bars
constantly hearin’ people sayin’ you won’t get far
Playin’ all day, in da go-go by night
getting’ loose off da goose and always leavin’ wit a fightAnd den da white man ask me where I be
so I tell him, “Ay! be from D.C.”
Marcus Johnson

20The Voices That Create
the MindWhen the sawdust from the footprints disappears,
The mourning begins

o
lJ
ali
Kh

You told me if everything wasn’t right,
I was a failurenesThat loyalty is a must,
But sometimes the universe can’t handle that
You told me that the worst part in life
Is right behind the door
You told me to give you change,
Those coins nobody pays attention toThat you were in need,
And I didn’t have any problems
These salty pain killers
Were the result of what you told me
The venom from your words gives me the ability to believe
That bittersweet ain’t so sweet
You told me to follow my dreams,
Those things beyond the stars
Why do those cobwebs become so thick,
Blurring the vision that wants to go
Into the center of a crying heart?

American Trees
For every tree you cut down
You slowly kill a piece of me
I solemnly promise that I will
Protect the trees around me
Through the storms
And the rain
I will always return
To protect them
I will not let society
Consume the trees
Throughout it all
No more trees will be sacrificed
I will rise up to the occasion
To save the trees
DarVel Suggs

Kiana Murphy

21

Ja m

es
Sa

un
d er

s

No Such Thing
There’s no such thing as happiness,because people are always sad.
And there’s no such thing as darkness,because that’s all you see in the light.
Without happiness, you would be avery sad person—
you might think about that special somebody
in the world, but without darkness
you wouldn’t see anything in the dark.
And if you keep going, then you will see light.
And there’s no such thing as habit,
because you can hang around people and they will thinkthat they are a bad habit.
And there’s no such thing as a film,
because all the films are always black and white
and the real world has color.
There’s no such thing as crooked,
there’s no such thing as a scheme,
and I wonder how many other ideas are
not really in the world.
Marcus Barnes

Word PlayThe words
Hit hard, like a car crash
The locked feeling
The laughs
They stare
Separated
Slowly the
Pain comes
Words
Just another way to hurt
In the middle of a feuda hiccup of hateful slang
can be unleashedThis will be the outcome:Chaos
Damon Kee22

Remain Silent

What Does It Mean?
Surreptitious people right around the corner
A simulation of familiar life of a home
Deep down, knowing they’re just as frightened as you are
Walking the streets alone
Lights flickering on and off
People walking by, looking at you
as if you’re nothing but scum
Going to the train station,
taking out your SmartTrip card
People thinking there is a lot on it
They start to surround you,throwing curse words at you,rough you up a bit“Give us the card,” they say
You throw it in their faces,
try to make a run for it
They’re not finished with you yet
Grab your arm, throw you to the groundkicks start coming your way
the fists are next
Someone comes, they run off
only to find out he didn’t come to help
Looks at you and walks away
as if it’s an everyday thing
You get up, limp to the nearest pay phone
no one’s home
You leave the station, careful not to trip
An elderly woman comes to you“Are you okay,” she asks
You look at her dumbly, limp off into the dark
So what does it mean to be from D.C.
It could be Hell, but also okay
So you tell me, “What do you think?”
Nichell Kee

Choke back the words that once had meaning;they will not be heard, save your breath,like secrets in your throat.
Cherish that you didn’t mess up
by stumbling and stuttering
on verbs. “Cut your tongue” I say.
Your eyes told me more than thrice.
Maryum Abdullah

The Poem with No Name
Thankfulness, an attempt to heal thewounds of your sins. But also torespect those who have given so much.
Little words that make a big differencein the life of a loved one.
Kindness and laughter frolic throughyour heart like a tranquil meadow.
Heartwarming gestures put a cheerful
smile on someone’s face. We treat
others the way we want to be treated.
Marquise Lewis

23

ir k

ur

ph

L e w isl-r

:K

Unwanted

M

ise
arqu
y, M

You have the right to remain in thisstate, if you try to leave you will be shot.
Anything you do will get you in trouble
and get you shot.
You have the right to call a lawyer
when you get shot.
If you call a lawyer,
he will shoot you too.
If you try to run away
you will be shot.
DarVel Suggs

MemoryMy childhood memory is when I
used to go over to my cousin’s houseand play the game every day,but since she is getting older, it’s no fun anymore.
When I was little, I was very shy to speak in front of other people,
I was very nervous speaking to my teachers, and I never messedwith anybody, but people used to mess with me.
I was very quiet. I always wanted to be alone andin my memory, I had a stressful life
because my father always hit on me and my sister,and my life was destroyed by my own flesh and blood.
I have the most deadly childhood memories in my life
and that will never change, and I will never forgetthose dark memories, but I still had love for him.
And that’s my childhood memory
Marcus Barnes

24

CrazyWhen the world ends
I will run the halls
until blur falls from my sneakers.
When the world ends
I will clip up Mr. Branch, shatter a tear,laugh and say I’m sorry.
When the world ends
I will jump off my 1st period teacher’s deskand do a blooming cartwheel across the eternal floors.
I wouldn’t sway down the street of garments—
I would skip obstacles around wreckage,ashes from burning buildings.
It would be Tuesday after school,
forever boundaries and unfinished business.
I won’t barricade my shadow;
it would run wild,
the heaviness in my fury
would recall precious venturesand maintain them forever.
Killing, knowledgeable know-it-alls
Renita Williams
Ignoring idiots, independent ideas
Recruiting righteous redemption
Knowing kingsize kindness kills

What I see and feel

Kirk Murphy
M o na e S

m ith

NAKIA
Now named Nakia, not a number
April and apple, acrostic alliteration
Kind kinfolk, keep knowing
Ice in ice cream? Involvement, interested
All afternoon, acting active
Nakia Better

25

Untitled
There might be a stone in sight—
Emphasis on the might
Maintain composure in the shadow of the day
Shatter the glass and destroy the display
I feel heaviness in my chest
What I’m doing is something, I won’t digress
Grab everything we can’t carry
Cause we know the cops won’t hurry
Then a flame starts within the stone’s rust
I can’t get through this, so I burn without a fuss
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust
The world ended along with my first rush

The Next Day of Fate

Sequan Wilson

The day when I am alone in this world
When this day turns into ashes
It shatters into a globe of heavinessTo maintain these boundaries
Blooming breezes have to reappear in the sun of music
The numbness in my body is wild in a puddle
But my reflection is in the mirror and I watch it burn into flames
The shadows tell me a secret about the next day of fate
You know I don’t listen to dust of gravity that turns into lightning
Stelita Better

After Life
There is no afterlife.
When you pass, your spirit goes to God.
I watch a channel called ghost hunters.
It is about these people going to an old house,
kingdom, or palace,discovering people, dead, and their spirits are ghosts.
They try to get some attention
to prove they’re ghosts.
I watch that show because it is real.
It’s creepy sometimes.
Sometimes I’m scared to go to sleep.
Eric Armstead26

:, Aaron Broo
ks

l -r

m ith
eS
a
on
M

Human Denial
There is no such thing as war
There are only minor conflicts enragedby the twisted minds of overlooked government
A melody of misunderstanding
ricochets off the barriers of my self-conscious
as the façade of the military remains intangible
Eyes of the public continue to stay clouded by the voidof human luxuries that caress the soul
So you ask yourself, “Is there?”Marquise Lewis

Painless
There is no such thing as pain
Just lack of bliss, twisted, flinching
Chills down my spine
Taste of a lemon mixed with the un-sweetener
Flimsy doohickeys that are supposed to keep me from pouncing
Subliminal films that make my whole body quiver
Drop down on all fours
Say it’s all in your head
And it is…but I got a cold and can’t really sweat it out
It hurts, whether it’s mental or physical
It’s numb
But it’s not pain
For that doesn’t exist
Maryum Abdullah

27

Da

m

o

n
Ke

e

My Boring Poem
Algebra, History, Reading, and Music
These are the subjects that make up
My boring day
After school I like to enjoy
A great day
A Creative Writing Club
Poetry to calm down the soulAfter a stressful day
Wrestling and racing video games
To finish my day
Boredom disappears.
Marquise Lewis

Distance

Boredom
To get through these long days
I shoot alien monsters
for hours and hours
I run around the housefighting my brotherjust for fun
Listening to a beat without my friend
is like being bored, but I never am
I go outside, I look into the sky
I play football

Unearned family, distant love,
DeArren Dawkins
that hurts me most.
Not knowing who they are,just living far, far away.
No one knows the way I feel—
A broken wing, God from nowhere,a family unknown, from the darkness of loveneeding me more and more each day.
Past time.
Keyama Robinson

28

Mask
The End of the World’s Shadow
If the world were to end
I would see a shadow following me
But it’s not mine
Now I notice that there is a
Blur in my head
Thinking of all my enemies
As I walk past them
My shadow begins to kill
And cry for the pain they caused
But there is no shadow
It’s me

My mask shows kindness:
generous and helpful
sweet and innocent
smart and a participant.
But what will you see
behind the mask of perfection?
And what will your reaction be,
terrified or nice?
You’d know if you knew
the real me
under the mask of perfection.
Cristal Sandoval

Khalil Jones

Why She Married That Man
I don’t know why she married that man
He messed up everything
He came in our lives, all nice and cool—trying to show love and affection
while the whole time taking my mom in another direction
He was setting us up in his mind
We moved to a new house
We were happy for a while
That man came home every day with a smile
knowing that he was about to rollto leave us with all these bills
He left my mother with tears.
We came back during the year
Everything was okay again
until
she
let him back in again.
Thomas Whitney

29You have the right toremain silent, the rightto get out, and the rightto be quit ofcrippled ground. Everything you’ve done to hateyourself and other people,
you cannot get mad andgo into the darkness,
not into the shadows withthe evil monster thatis under you, don’t go there.
The thing about facts, they
can’t find you homelesson the street, and not ina home with a family
that misses you. You needa fence that holds you
back from black mistthat never goes away, andyou refuse to go to
jail, so you will
be on house arrest and in a
shelter that has not a lotof food, with your mind erased
but with dreams of yourfather above.
Stelita Betterl-rWhat do you want to be?

:

r
Be

nic

eC

e l l, Me p h i s t o p h i l isLong Gone By
It was one day when
I was in a fight after school.
A boy named Ishmael kept
starting stuff.
I saw him aroundhis way.
He said Hey what do you think
you doing around here?
I said Man shut up
and get out my face.
He said alright, I will see you on Monday.
But today
I am more mature
so it doesn’t matter anymore.
Eric Armstead

30

w
ald

Poem For A Burning HeartIf somebody nosy asks
“Well, how is it feeling?”
Fall down on your knees
because the unexpected has been revealed.
If they get scared and they say“Well, why is it happening?”
Tell ‘em “love hurts, minds forget,
futures are unknown failures.”
And if they give you that confused, black staretrying to understand your thoughts
to the point where they say“Well, are you gonna tell me about it?”Just stand there and let the emotions
filter through your cranium, staring deep into their eyes
exchanging their mind-reading.
You stand there, cold yet broken
Screaming to find an exit, a place
far from your penetrating eyes.
Blood written deep down
in a dark place, waiting for trespassers
within the torn pages of my diary.
Kiana Murphy
Re n

ita

Wi
ll

ia

m

Realitys

As the numerous numbers
begin to count down
I realize the sun’s smile transitions
to the moon’s frown
As the Alaskan snow begins
to melt away
I wonder if we’ll all see
the next day
Being true to the fact,
we’re all gonna die
Most of us will burnin what’s not well
Many of us will go towhere it’s all swell
Some will jump (with joy)Some will cry
Some will laughSome will fry
But all will know the sad truth
with the penetration of realitythat everything must die.
Marcus Johnson

31Coming to Southeast

A Day I Want to Forget

I remember when I first moved here
to DC almost 9 years ago

I want to forget the day I
was about to fight.
I forced her to the locker.
It was like a big snowflake hitting
the ground,it was like men rebuilding a building.
Then I smacked her.
It was like an echo,
it was like a splinter insomeone’s foot,sounds like a greedy pig.
I charged toward her
like a mouse running for cheese.
It was like a distance away—
you can hear it,
the day I want to forget.

That was the worst day everI wish I could go backI came from North Carolina
which is much better than Southeast
I said that it was better because
the crime rate is better
And there are excellent neighbors there
and there are great restaurants
I absolutely loved it down there
I used to be able to go outside

Kierra Parks

and play without worrying about anything
happening to me out thereThat was my worst memory,
coming to Southeast DC
DarVel Suggs

I want to forget
I would want to forget getting hit by a car
on a wonderful day of schoolthat day, great
after, ok
driving, fungetting hit, disastrous
I wish it never had happened
Walter Jones

32

Feeling like you’re not finished
Sweat reflecting your urge to speak
But the words are lost
Flames wild in your chest, growing, growing
It’s the feeling of exposure
Lurking in the depths of emptiness
Formed behind your eyes
Suffering the burn in silence
Confined within every corner
Claustrophobic
Falling in a puddle of tears
Created from your unspoken nonsense
Coping with the cold heart
Salty waters, heated skinConcrete, yet unstable
Thoughts swallowing every emotion
It’s like knowing your heart wants to,
But your mind is sentenced to silence.
Kiana Murphy

Seq
ua
n

What it’s like to keep a secret(for those who haven’t)

on
ils
W

Never
There is no such thing as death
There are only dreams once death strikes you awake
People believe that when you die
You’re going to rot
And people are going to forget about you
Death isn’t truly what it reveals
It is really a deep rest that God anoints to a certain citizen
When their time comes
But if your time comes with Satan,
It will be too late…you’ve paid the price
Kirk Murphy33l-r: Kiana Murphy, Nichell Kee, Maryum Abdullah

Unique Signature
My slanted signature sounds like a run-on sentence that’s never stopped running
My small signature speaks louder than words,
Even though it’s not saying anything
My straight line signature has a whole bunch of meaning with no dictionary
My grandma always says “stay between the lines and don’t forget the period.”
I always distance myself from the crowd,
Slow but steady, I ease over there
My idiot curl, twist, swirl and turns in my signature stare out into the distance
When I sign your poetry bookI yearn and crave to find new and better ways to write my name
Slide left then right, up and down, to the beat of my pulse
When I write my name, it makes you want to shout.
Renita Williams

Look
Look at one thing,appearance (you should know what I mean),then the potential philosophical mind
how hot a girl or guy isinstead of how beautiful their emotions blend
think about it, you love your physical appearance
but you’re dying inside because of emotional clearance
so I’ll tell you again, you’ll never know what’s in there
outer appearance is dependable to you, but there’s probably more
Sequan Wilson

34

I Lose My Boredom
I lose my boredomby sleeping and falling
into an unconscious
world where everyone
and everything is powered by me.

What It’s Like to LiveYour Last Minute of Life
Trying to tell God“Forgive me for my sins”
Like I’m trying to pull my life back together(50 seconds left)
Many memories running through my head
Remembering how I first learned to walkOn the apple juice-stained rug of my mother’s(30 seconds left)
My heart begins to pound faster
Like my life is close to being over
(10 seconds left)
I gasp for air as if this is the end
I fall to my knees
Praying to God“Send me an angel”(1 second left)
I feel my heart stop
My life is overWishing that I could go back to makeMy life better than it was

And everything is myself
in my twisted mind,
and I’m the king and
I’m above the slavesof the bored days—
I do what I want.
In my unconscious mind,
where you take steps
in a path that no one else
will take, and I’m lostin my mind
I control, because I’m bored.
I should break things that
don’t belong in my mind,
just to become unboredin a world alivethat stays the same.
Walter Jones

Kirk Murphy

35

Kh

Jo
alil

n es and Mephistophilis

To My Old Friend
I want to 4get meeting you
Completely
I wish you never evensaw meBelieve me
I’m serious
I must have been delirious
at first
because knowing you weredumb,
I loved having fun
2getherbut I can see ourfriendship is not going to
get better.
Janine Green

Forgeti would want to forget the day my cousin
died, and my uncle. i would want toforget nine eleven because a whole
lot of people died by plane crashes
and by falling buildings like thepentagon. i would want to forget
the days i did bad things likestealing, and a lot more. i just wish
those memories didn’t happen.
Edward Marshall#1
He’s among the top three,Not in class, but the whole country.
Self-proclaimed genius, but modesty is his profession,
But his pointless confessions further hide his depression,
Fate is cruel, ending is a mess,Tears of woe fill the room, but I digress.
No help from anyone, but I have to confess,
With a mind like that, this took me by surprise,
His ingenuity and intelligence shouldn’t be his demise,
Why can no one hear his cries?
I believe I can handle that question myself,
He never asked anyone for help.
Sequan Wilson

36

O, Graceful Weapons
Swing with intent, mygraceful scimitars against a
bland suit of armor, dressedin cavalry, with intent…to kill.

The Two Sides of Me

Sing, silent blades, let
this coliseum hear an éclat of tings
and tongs, move in a dither. Heckle
these walls, scream reflection.
Distend with fine simplicity
a show. Allay these rebel thoughts,
my graceful scimitars, force their demeanor
quiet resignation.
Free me, these scimitars
with gentle, vile, seraphic
intentions.
James Tindle

N eferte

aria

Cr

aw

le y

The broken fears that
can’t stop being angry
at something stupid. It
is like a moment toyourself, you look out
the window and you
think that disrespecting
something happens
in a fire, but your family’s
spirit is full of love that lifts
the endless blood of life.
You dropped with roses
all around you, but
you are blackened in theshivering cold of acrystal ball that shakes
and never dies. In yourpast, you felt dangerous
without a man by yourside. It is the bitter things
that hurt you, but when you
hurt somebody a tear falls
like you did something wrong
but you don’t feel wrong
about it. You say yourprayers to live beyond safety
to hear your voice and tasteof the silent song of the Lord.
The echo of cherishingrandom things nurtures that
selfish daughter’s stillness
swift through the rageof light deeply in the future.
The other side of meis like being stuck in thedarkness of shadows.
Stelita Better37

My childhood
My life as a childsomeplace where
unbelievable silence,
silence in the wild eyerose with a heartbeat.
My eyes everlasting,full of memories
drifting into beams ofthe moonlight,
whirling into
an ocean ofnothingness.
My eyes see
forgiveness, cried,cried for strength.
And the vision of all
glittering memory
will not be forgiven.
Nakia Better

DreamsThere is no such thing as dreams
There is just an empty void
In your mind
That’s why you can barely
Remember your dreams
When you go to sleepYour mind becomes vacant
All thought disappears
Things seem ethereal
But are not dreams
Dreams are tricks played by
The human mind
They almost seem real
But never come true, which is why
There is no such thing as dreams
DarVel Suggs

38

Graceful Weapons, Come

Watch us, our masters
as if we are not your slaves
Watch me and them,sweet scimitars
withrhythmic vicebruising your sky
implications coherent,
free us.
Maunder
let them watch our pain
let them hear you, gracefulweaponsi’ll play at your sidewith a melodious parryand inventive
thrusts.

i ns
awk
D
en
rr

De

i scream for those who oppose us
Graceful weapons, with
Tragedy inyour arms
Graceful weapons, rhetoric inyour blade
a sweet, canorous
pathogen.

A(A Sequel)

Streaks
Blue Orange Green
Yellow Red
Streaks of the past
into
the future
movement like cars on a street.
James Tindle

O, Graceful cadence
listen to your maker
thosegraceful scimitars,
the blueprint of my aggression
James Tindle

39

Mo

na

eS

m
it h

I Too
“I, too sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
when company comes”
When company comes, mom thinks
I will act up and not be myself. My
Mom thinks I will have no table manners
or start to play with my food. My
Mom thinks I will embarrass her when company comes.
David McIntyre

Caged Bird
“I know why the caged bird sings”
The caged bird sings till morning comes“For The Caged Bird sings Of Freedom”
My caged bird sings to get out.
My caged bird needs his own house.
Mya Manigan

40

Kidnap“Ever been kidnapped by a poet?
If I were a poet I’d kidnap you.”
I would take you to my housethrow you on the couchask you questions.
I kidnapped you because
you are beautiful
like peaches
you are so sweet
Baby I want you to be my lady.
Kyree Matthews

Mom’s Last Confessional
They notice these obscure bruises:emphatic love,
latent hate.
A week before i issued the metallic bruises
his punches left seven marks,
one for every day i cried,
so i scratched a starwith seven rays.
His speech loving
his fists irascible, unscrupulous
I don’t bemoan, but i hate these selfish walls
i pity them.

47 Pictures, 47 Black Faces“Taped to the wall of my cell are 47 picturesof 47 black faces”
I went to jail for acting racist.
Man I regret doing that inso many peoples faces. Man
Oh boy I could’ve gone so many
places. 47 pictures, 47 black
faces. Man I shouldn’t never
have acted racist.
Nyesha Morrow

These walls don’t scream, so i run
corners
jumped at me
down junctioning hallways
to this dimly lit haven.
Dovish she sleeps
emotionally colorblindjust impregnated on a day of swollen and selfish vows
under her circular nightlightmy burdens embodied within my eyes
the last uncolored light she’ll ever know.
I sat down
three headaches before the migraine i
received from the cataclysm of fists
i sat down on my knees next to this lifeless bassinet,
pulled the metal bruiser from its perch and went to see her, colored.
His face, watching the doorway, set in malicious snicker
His face ignorant,
schadenfreude.
James Tindle

41

Th

When alone he sits in the bathroom
tiled adventure for company. Persistently
banging his stomach against the bathgrasping the escapism, residual amounts of cheese on the tileat the base of the toilet. Stoically, stubbing his hands and knocking
his chin against the porcelain rim.
“When it rains
the windowpane’s thudding constantly shakes
the sole of my feet.The lingering smells of dad’s
mephitic narghile, chokes my stomach and grabs my hands.
Though mybreathing isn’t visible,my lungs are on display.
For weeks i’ve had to pee and though no releases,
i still shrivel.Constricting, my big toe moves
and i can hear the bones in my neck shift.”That 6’7 handsome giant, spent his time drinking 40’s and downing that boy’s edible dignity,
ejaculating insults…who, with no fat children, enkindled an anorexic-bulimic child who’s
epidermis burns with the vomit he spits up with every feast, whose voice is no longer amiablewith the scratchy tone of a man who fought sleep and befriended a rum bottle
from the base of that bed.
That boy, the one who obviates his hunger and sleeps light on an empty stomach,tired and agog, his meatless knees rubbing themselves into anger, grabbing tidbits frombeneath his pillow, a sallow sleeper.

42

ney

At the base of the bed
hammering down mom’s secret stash of doritos
hoping for an escape.
Secreting his stomach as far as he can within his ribs
praying for flat on his corpulent reflecting body.

h it“On those sunny days when moms wants to go out i sit in thethe window, watching the minivan pull from the driveway.
That window, my patient comrade, the one with the bird’s eye view,
the one with the small seat in between its two walls,
the one made for a five year old girl,the one that holds my withered and compacted.

asW

When i told of my penpal’s anorexiaomSitting in that window, back bent from famine
Arthritis in his fingers, lips swollen, breathing
sharp. Cold then hot, hot then cold, caved-in,
celibacy, the shadows, cementing his skeleton-like figure to that corner window
the one with the seat in between its two walls, the one with the bird’s eye-view,
the one that holds a five year old girl,the one that held his compacted and withered.
The aghast look on his faceHis body
sallow
still
His eyes xanthous and blank
Fading from that corner window.
James Tindle

Caught“Ever been kidnapped by a poet? If I were a poet I’dkidnap you.”
If I were kidnapped by a poet
I would be stuck in a housereading poems and more

N a kia Betterwith my brain achingand sore. I’m sittingin the chair I can’t take no more.
Jasmon Gassaway

Liberty’s Glasses“Excuse me but lady liberty needs glasses andso does Mrs. Justice by her side.” So if you
don’t have any glasses go to Mrs. Justicebecause you just don’t know. Go get some if
you need some because Mrs. Justice is on your side.
Christina Moody

43

We Must
Such a Fool
“You Are such a fool I haveta love you”
Hold you like you’re my boo
I’ll never let you go
I’ll tell you later
cause right now we got haters
Let’s move out this spot
“But we real cool
we left school
we lurk late”
We share traits
Don’t really know
We’ll call your old girlfriend a foe
cause I’m here now
We all go down
down to the groundnever to come up again
because to me your more thanjust a friend
right now you’re an addiction.
If you leave me, I’ll feel affliction.
Danisha Woodard

Deferred“What happens to a dream deferred” isYou don’t pay attention to it anymore,
You set it aside. What happened to
A dream, to me when it is deferred I would
set it aside and just let it disappear.
My dream deferred was amazing
Because it was exciting and interesting.
Courtney Slater

44“If we must die
let it not be likehogs hunted andpinned in an inglorious
spot. While round us
bark the mad and hungry
dogs.”Let us not be
dragged down
by darkness.
If we must see thelight, let us believein ourselves
before we makeit there.
Our lives are notalways easy but
we have to make itbetter. Some of
our lives flash before
our eyes when we die.
We will not be
driven downby the pitsof hell or
captured by thedevil and put
down for rest
or work.
We will fightfor our freedom
and when we
die, the freedomthat we fought
for, God will
make our lives
much better.
Seleen A. FordI tooAndre Whit e“I too sing America
I am the lighter sister
They send me to eat in the kitchen
when company comes.”
They love me very much.
I do like to sing.
I am a good person.
You do so like me!
You really are nice.
I don’t like to write.
Erica McCrae

Abracadabra“We are the young magicians” freaking people’s minds
in the city. New York’s asking how we
do it but a true magician never reveals his secrets
charging people five dollars a trick
to do amateur tricks.
We are the young magicians and noone will know how we do it.
Pournew Miller

All I Want to Do Is
Read The Newspaper
All I want to do is read the newspaper but I
keep seeing Obama. Yes we see him,
what about Obama I saw him
already, I know he’s in the White House.
Tell me something new I don’t know.
I like to hear about him but not every day.
Just tell me something I wantto know. Like more information
about pistachios.
Jasmon Gassaway

45

Stelita Bett

All I want to do isread the newspaper
All I want to do is eat pistachios
But I can’t because they tested for salmonella.
I want to watch the news.
But I can’t because this boy keeps
looking at me. All I want to do is eat
peanut butter on mysandwich but I can’t because there’s something
in it. All I want to do is hold my nephew
but he don’t like me picking him up.
Courtney Slater

Newspaper
All I want to do is read the newspaper.
People are dying While other people
are in court lying. Twitter is new
online talking to people who don’t know who.
Looking at the comics, it’s really funnyturn the page, people getting marriedand calling each other honey. But all I want to
do is read the newspaper.
Daja Leonard

46

er

We The World
We will never unite as one,because the world would neverbe as open minded as me.
We came to this earth witha purpose, but that purpose will neverbe.
We start trouble and try to fit
in. We curse, fuss and all thoseother sins.
We feel like the world owes us
promises, dreams, and success, but weowe ourselves to do our best.
We the world, and we’re not perfect.
Davon FordNews FlashAll I want to do is read the newspaper, but
All I do is sniff and sniff again
Bail-out or constitution
Go to heaven
Eat snacks
Watch a movie?
Be an adult?

Down But Not Out.
All I want to do is read the newspaper
to see people lose their jobs.

Be a liar
Take out the trash
Eat corn
Go to class.

How they take less money and less money thenafter that they are broke.

But all I want to do is read the newspaper.

And see if they can afford the good buffets.

Christina A. Moody

All I want to do is see if they can pay their rent.
And also to see if they lost theirfull-time jobs.
I would want to save up like them, andsave until I could own my own business.
I don’t want to want to get ready to eat.
I don’t want to get ready for school.
I don’t want to do my chores and watch my sister.
I don’t want to go to the store.
All I want to do is read the newspaper.
Kierra Parks

47

l-r

We So Sweet

:D

ar

Su
Vel

g g s, K

ir k M u rp h y

We so fresh. We
shop at H & M. We
get our flats from Payless.
We go to Go-Go’s. We
have a ball. We
sometimes fall. We
stay out late. We
gets da bait. We
are so bad. We
wake up and weremember the funthat we had.
Ieshia MayoWe
We go outside. We
come back in. We
watch TV. We
eat green. We
go to sleep. We
run fun. We
color purple. We
got the bait. We
outside late. We
is great.
Tanasia Lloyd

We Box
We work abs. We
throw jabs. We
dance flash. We
hit bash. Our
hands smash.
Blood do splash.
Our eyes don’t blink,
your knees will sink.
Devonte Tolbert

48

Partying with Mom
Go-Go with mom
not so fun
you can’t shake
you can’t breakjust stand like a tall
rake.

Athletic

Cookout with mom
you gotta stand under her
arm.
Only look to eat a little
no boys near.
Mall with mom
buy what she wants
you to wear
do everything her way
don’t dare be rare.
A day with mom
might not be sofun.
Zane HarrisonWeathleticWe
athleticball
sometimes
wefall athletic
wejone
we athletic
sign out
we
fresh
and athletic
we cook em
Marlon McDowellMarc

us B ar nes

PretendPretend I can’t
see the darkness
in front of me.
Pretend I can’t
see the pain of
my eyes straining
to seePretend I can’t
see the scarof the eclipse
in front of me.
Pretend I can’t
see the thoughtof no lights infront of me.
Imani Hinds

49

SuccessMany African-Americans invented and achieved,
and it’s all because they had faith and they believed;
they risked their lives for you and me
that’s why we should look up to the heroes that set us free,
like Martin Luther King when he said his speech,or like Rosa Parks when she didn’t give up her seat.
They taught us to set out for our dreams and never give up,
even if we don’t succeed just keep our head up,
and attempt another dream. Like everyone says,
two times the charm, like the great march leader Lew Farrakhan
and the million man march, the way he said his speech he really had heart,
so now it’s our responsibility to play our part,they’re counting on us to do our jobs.
If you put in effort it won’t be hard!
Sheldon Hickerson

Drunk manPretend I can’t see
a drunk man walking
cross the street

I remember
I remember when no
one could coax
me to play football,
When I’d stand there
thinking about the man
I’d get mad in
the moon,though words filled
head and stomach
Kenard Wyatt

Pretend I can’t see
him trying to hold himself up,
to get to the other side
Pretend I can’t see
his army jacket getting
dirtier and dirtier
Pretend I can’t see
him going into the liquor
store and getting another bottle
Pretend I don’t see
him pass away into ashes
that fly away
just pretend, just pretend.
Tylashia Joyner

50Aaron B

Not There

roo
k

s

Pretend I can’t see
my so-called friends avoiding me
starting to act flakey.
Pretend I can’t seethat my whole world is crashing down on me
that the sky is not blue as the sea.
Pretend I can’t see
feels like people watching me
and life is not good as it seems.
Pretend I can’t seethat my hair is falling out repeatedlythat every night my eyes are red as can bePretend I can’t see
every one that I love is dying on me
and I feel so lonely.
Pretend I can’t seethat I smile every once in a while
and that my best friend did something
very foul.
Pretend I can’t see
my name is Angeliqueand life is not what I want it to be
Angelique James

PretendPretend I can’t see
the other side of me
waiting to bePretend I can’t see
the dreams waiting for me
the souls I can freePretend I can’t see
the things accomplished for me
the goals you set to bePretend I can’t see
how you feel raising me
the things you’ve done for free
Marlon McDowell51l-r: Renita Williams, Maryum Abdullah

The Current
You nolegged dogof my heart,
glad, happy
not silent
but there in
my mind. A
winter chillthat touches
my spine.
Maggie Moo’s
next door to
Alero’s looking
outside of thewindow—you
see U street
busy withbarking dogs.
Imani Hinds

School SongYou big dirty school with yourunclean bathroom and yourmean teachers who care about
themselves. But your dances befun. They short. Your pizza
is the best pizza I tasted yet.
Hart Middle School, you couch
potato, eating chips all day.
Shamiyah KingPoem
You scary houseon east street
by itself, looking
like a haunted
mansion in the fog.
Tyray Johnson

52

The Makings of You

Six
You green train line
track tunnel toany destination I
choose. You snarea place with temptation
I walk away fromone place of blastingmusic or games on
every corner, that
store, food stationin the middle.
Real big place,
five side stores.
I still have notbeen to that notorious
place that makes
the other places
look dead, fifty
or more dollars I
need to be there,
you know that very
well, filled withfive or more thousandpeople in it. You
place to go see
people. Pentagon
City is how I know it.

You be live on
Saturdays, be likethe brother of the
Bryan Manor,
your parking lot fullof kids playing tag
or manhunt. Yourbuildings be filledwith drug dealers
selling drugs to addicts,
steps full of addicts
waiting in line to gettheir drugs. You
and your rats makekids run away forever.
Kesahn Kaigler

Walter Jones53

Ki a na M u rp h y

The Old HomeYou big beautiful
white cloudfull of loveand hate,
happy but
not sad,powerful but
not silent.
The White Houseso rich withroses thatsmell so good
grass that’s
cut so rare,
how busy you are.
House of thefirst Black President.
So glad to livein this moment
in my life.
How grateful I am.
To have you in
the grandest cityin America.
with the historyof the war of men
fighting to be free.
But now thankfully
home to us.

RememberI remember when no one could
coax me to play baseball.
When I’d stand there thinking
about the day in front of me
though words filled my head
I hate him for making me play

Tylashia Joyner

Sanchez Threadgill

History
On Friday I shot hoops
by Bald Eagle, the sun was
beaming and I still dropped
buckets on my cousin
until the sun dropped.
Telly Tinker

54

A Young Boy
A young boy all alone on the sideof the street, rhymes in his head as
he taps with his feet.
Rhymes running through his head like ratson the street. He makes history as
he raps to the beat.
He emerges from the curb stillrapping to himself. Then he raps
out loud to the sound of his steps.
He raps all the way to the recording
studio, then he speaks in the mic
as they beat to his flow.
After a couple minutes of rhyming
to the beat, they finish the recording
and put it on a CD.
The CD passes around and they soon
became copied. The first rap CD which
made the world happy.

My Heart

Davaugntae Shepherd
l-r:

E ri

cA

rm

ste
ad

,L

at h
an

Arm
stea dThe fist in mychest. Red or pink.
The one that makes
me breath. You
keep my life going
like how a movie
goes on and on forhours. Never giveup, tough as a
pro-wrestler. Control
power is what you
have. If you had achoice, who would
you give up on?
Dana Kaigler

55

A Child’s Biggest Dream
A young girl had a dreamthat she believed in, that
she always thought about.
She never told anyone
cause she said you’re neversupposed to tell a dream,or it won’t come true andit did and she told everyone.
Charmaine Walker

What I Don’t Know
I don’t know how to write a poem
but I could play sports
catch me on Saturdayin Wingate with a ball in my hand.
Telly Tinker

My Life Is Like
The blooming flower of my life is a surprisein the morning it’s likejumping in joy withstepping into heaven,it’s jumping on a moon bounce;
it’s screaming off the topof your lungs; it’s just having fun.
Cassandra Taylor

ThursdayThursday afternoon after school looking
out the window seeing cars drive past andpeople picking up children and girls
playing jump rope in the street and boys
playing basketball, people crossing the street
people walking the sidewalk and I see my friend
that’s my street. That’s what I see out my window.
Malik Green56

The Sky
is like air you can walk through it,
light blue with whiteclouds above us
giving us light tosee the world
during the day.
Wonder where we would be
if there was no you
You brighten our daywith confidence, happiness.
Would we be blindon the dark lonely road?
Niya Rogers

ForgivenessForgive me for stealinga jacket forgive mefor saying bad words
out my mouth forgive
me for spitting in mylittle brother’s faceforgive me for saying
I don’t have nofather because hewasn’t there forme forgive me
for fighting mybest friend overa boy forgive me
for failing in mathclass forgive me for
writing on
the hallways inHart Middle School
forgive me foreverything I ever
did bad or wrong.
Lacrecia Johnson

Aaron Brooks

Dad I forgive you
Forgive you for not being in
my life.
Forgive you for not being there for me
when I needed you.
Forgive you when you were out getting introuble and getting locked up.
Forgive you for not being at none of
my football games.
Forgive you for not being there at myfirst fight.
Forgive you for not being there for me
when I needed someone to talk to.
Forgive you for not being there when
I was sick.
DaJuan Jones Jr.

57

l-r: Eric Armstead, DarVel Suggs, Kirk Murphy, Marquise Lewis

Phone
Black, new blackberry
you always are used
to chat with my parents
small black and fresh outof a box.

PretendWhy don’t you break likethe Xbox 360 and get repaired
so the teacher could forget me?
Phone get lost into a fog,
come back for me when I do
something even more stupid.

Pretend I can’t see
the wrinkles and bags
coming out of a thousand homeless eyes

Teacher on the phone
phone please cut off
like scissors. Phone beep
while chatting to my mother.
Black new black berry.

Pretend I can’t see
the sorrow in my mom’s eyes
at night while she cries about bills.

Pretend I can’t see
the danger around, just think
about it I’m lucky to be alive
Pretend I can’t see
how us black people arestill under slavery, without knowing it

Derrean Jones
Pretend I can’t see
minds in the same frame
walking around me
Pretend I’m not writing
this right now and I wasnever here. Forget me.
Davon Ford58

Pretend
I pretend to be an inspiration
but it’s not a hesitation
I’m surprised for their great celebration

Pretend

They threw a big birthday bash
even when the lights flash
I’m glad it’s not a big dash

Pretend I can’t see
or feel courage within me,
thinking about what I could be

At the end there was a maze
I was in a hazelost in a freeway

Pretend I can’t see
thinking of somewhere it’s
only me, leave me alone and let me be

Really there were big liesat the end I gave away a prize
You could see happiness through my eyes

Pretend I can’t see
and take away my family
then all I have is misery

Kourtnee Spencer

Pretend I can’t see
This is the life I’m trying to flee
but can’t cause it was made just for me
Pretend I can’t see
only betrayal left in my memory
my blindness is trickery
Pretend I can’t see
Diantra Landry

59

l-r

:F

on

ro
té B

w n, Michaela Brown

I Am Mad Now
Heartbeat really fast cried wild eye
really unbelievable and memory
sudden mind full of hatred
For a long afternoon haze in mymind forever sing songs filled withshadows like a baby rose sudden
Find betrayal in flames somewhere
being an inspiration to people thatare younger than me sudden forgive
kids that hated on me
Charlene Monroe

But
All I want to do is read the newspaper…
But I don’t want to read the newspapercause all they do is talk about Obama.
I don’t want to watch TV. I don’t want togo home. I don’t want to go to sleep.
I don’t want to eat no peas. I don’t want
to do my little cousin’s hair cause all she’ll
do is cry. I don’t want any sisters cause they cry
too much. I don’t want any brothers cause
they are bad. I don’t want no friends.
I don’t want to do no homework cause
its boring. I don’t want to walk home from school
because my legs be hurting. I don’t want to eat
lunch at a certain time. I don’t want to watch noscary movies because I get scared. I don’t want
to go to school. I don’t want to be cool. I don’t
like that girl. I don’t want no curls.
Ashley Hinton

60

T’ang Poem
Swim stroke don’t stop now
Dive sink hit the groundCry hurt don’t get mad
Drown die with no soundErica McCrae

Summer T’ang
Splash splash in the pool
Sit chill talk be cooljump dive please stay safe
kick kick splash in face
Dante Lewis

Ja yon Gr ay

Play=Pain T’ang
Run jump please have fun
Climb climb block out sun
Fall cry hurt your knee
run run from that bee
Dante Lewis

61

My Hair T’ang
Sat long in a chair
Put braids in my hair
Bright braids what I picked
Tight braids make me stare
Chernell Tillman

Rock in Out T’ang
Pop top cause I’m hot
Rock stop cause your not
Don’t get scared get redtick tock stop the clock
Jasmon Gassaway

Rain T’ang
Pit pat to the groundmy face has a frown
I’m sad on this day
no one is in town
Tai’Lon Jackson

Football T’ang
In game hike the ballbut then tried to stallMove back and got sacked
ouch that was a fall
Michael Muhammad

D eo n St ove r

Green light T’ang
I’ll see you real soon
I can’t stay it’s noon
I have to go workand bus has no room
Tai’lon Jackson

62

I.L.Y. T’ang
Lil love I love you
She says she does too
Love is at stake yep
But he has no clue

Ma ryum Abd

ul l ah

Lapriya McNair

What it means
to come from D.C.
It means a lot for me
to be from D.C.,
because many rappers and singers
come from D.C.,
like Jennifer Hudson.
One day I want to sing with her
and be famous for singing
and everybody will know my name.
Lakeisha Thompson

DC Creative writing workshop
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