Pain to Power

By AR

I was 14 when I watched Ky die
When I seen him fall back and close his eyes,
I wanted to die
I didn’t want to believe he was dying
So I ain’t cry
I just talked to his boy like he was alive

I felt as if I lost part of me
As if part of me died
It hurt so badly, I wanted to lie beside him in a casket
And go with him

Some people would have sworn I was a zombie
Walking thru the hood
But I took the pain and turned it into poems
Now I feel as if he’s living in me
As if I’m the reincarnation of him
Now I am totally different
Because his legacy lives on through me

1 Comment

  1. emily on June 17, 2014 at 1:27 PM

    This is an amazing poem, AR. it is so deep and visceral. I cannot truly imagine what it must have been like to experience that, but I feel like I have gotten a little sliver of your experience through this poem. I think it can resonate with anyone who has experienced a profound loss of some sort in their life. You so eloquently describe the healing power of writing poetry (even art in general) with these lines: “But I took the pain and turned it into poems/Now I feel as if he’s living in me/As if I’m the reincarnation of him.” I also love the cadence and rhyming in the first stanza. really fantastic. thank you for sharing and please keep writing.

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