I Come From
By Gary
Free Minds Poet Ambassador
I come from a struggle
Welfare mother on drugs
And a dog eat dog world
Where they say only the strong survive
And you watch the murder of friends
Through your innocent eyes
I come from where the devil is strong
And God is weak
And the only time you pray
Is for something to eat
I come from a society of its own
But where I’m going is a different spiritual zone
Where I can sit and write at Sandy Spring lake
And not have to worry who is creeping behind the gate
I’m going to where God is pushed first
And the devil is so shallow
And temptation is so hollow
And my new friends so positive I’m not afraid to follow
Where I’m going is someplace positive
You might want to go
This poem was written on the recent Free Minds retreat to Sandy Spring Friends School, after walking in silence through a former stretch of the Underground Railroad.
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Wow! it sounds like the Sandy Spring reatreat, your new writing friends, and the location’s connection to the Underground Railroad- has a powerful impact on your piece and given you the vision you need to know you can lead a positive life! I love how the positive attitude of this piece grows from challenging circumstances; and that it indicates you are taking control of your own life and know you need to make decisions that value your emotional health. You are a talented writer, i enjoyed this piece!
You have some strong and powerful ideas in this poem. I could get a real sense of where you come from. Yeah, I do want to go “someplace positive”. Thanks for encouraging me to do just that.
Thank you for sharing this great poem!
I really like your rhyming choices. These two lines are powerful:
“And the only time you pray
Is for something to eat”
I also like the hope and confidence in this line:
“And my new friends so positive I’m not afraid to follow”
Like, you finally have something positive that you can have faith in and not be afraid about making the wrong decision. It seems to me that you have found this writing group to be a certain right decision, and something good.
It is so good you were able to get out and be in nature, and see a little bit of history. I always feel more at home when I am in outside. I find so much inspiration outside and when investigating history. When I find my quiet place the words always seem to flow. Please keep writing!
Gary,
Thank you for sharing this piece. You show immense growth througout the poem, beginning with a difficult childhood where you did what you had to to survive and showing how now you are in a place where you are now able to write and surround yourself with people who are able to influence you for the better and help you on your self-growth journey.
Hi Gary,
Your poem is very emotional. I like how you use words like “dog eat dog world” and “murder of friends” to describe your struggle. I also like how you made the contrast between “the devil is strong and God is weak” and the “positive” place they are going to. It makes your story telling more striking and shows how powerful hope and resilience can be. Thanks for sharing this moving story about the power of hope and the strength of the human spirit.