Poems

By EW
This is how I feel, so I put it on a piece of paper.

Just ‘cause I am black and have dreads
And have on a Helly and a ski mask on my head
Don’t mean I have a gun
Don’t mean I like to rob
Don’t mean I am selling drugs
Don’t mean I carjack
Don’t mean I am a bad person
So you don’t have to hop out the car
With your gunz drawn at me
Or press me out like I have something
Or did something
Or blame me for something I didn’t do
It’s a person that been locked up for 20 years
And he didn’t do nothing
Just cause I stay in the hood
Don’t mean I am going to clown
It don’t mean I am going to act a fool
Just because I am with my friends
Don’t mean we about to do something
And just because a paper say that I am a menace
Don’t mean I am!
Because I am not
So don’t try to take my life away
Some of us don’t know what all them years mean
And some people don’t have anything
Not just black people
Some don’t have their family to support them
And if they do, they don’t have nothing
So they go out and get money ‘cause they need to
That don’t mean that they like doing the stuff that they do
Some people been doing it for a long time
So used to it ‘cause all the jobs gone
So they can’t get one
So why you scared of me and other people like me?
People make mistakes
That’s a part of life
I am not racist, but I feel some kind of way
Because if a white man or woman do something to us
And we do something about it
Or we walking through the suburbs to go to the store
Or just seeing a family member or something
The police blitz us like we doin’ something
But we not
Is it because we black?
Yeah, but some white people is not like that
Some want to help us
Some don’t
I respect the ones who do
But I don’t judge nobody
But everybody have feelings
So don’t take our freedom
Our people have to fight and fight for it
So give chances not time
Some of us need it
But at the end of the day
God/Allah made us
So act like it!

By EW

I sit back and watch people who is happy
And I try to be
But deep inside, the pain is all around me
The people I know that know me best as me
Am I okay?
Or they know what’s up with me
Sometimes my sadness is anger, depression, hopelessness,
Revenge and downheartedness
But I don’t show it except when I am mad
I lost my dad when I was 11 years old
I lost my right-hand man when I was 15
I lost my aunt when I was 16
These years my mother was my provider
Until she couldn’t provide for me
So I had to go get it myself
So that made it even harder for me
‘Cause I got to watch over my head every 10 seconds
And all my friends had more stuff than me and looked good for school
All the parties, they asked me did I want to go
But I didn’t have nothing nice to wear
Their mothers bought them games like PS2 and Xbox2
And I still had a PS1
I always had to wait until after Christmas when everything gets cheap
So my mother can get if for me
She lost her job and had to pay for it off the first of the month check
So I started getting money myself
And when my brother had money
He didn’t give me nothing
Or my sisters—only some of them
They had lots of clothes and I had a few
So I was mad that I had to go and get it with my friends
That was going through the same thing
Then I started to get in fights and I started to get locked up
Now I am 17 and in DC Jail
But my sadness and depression is still there
But now I know if I hide it
Later on in life I am going to go crazy
And if I show it
People will get to me even if I don’t let them
So it’s in the shadows
Until I need to show them

By MB

Life is a struggle
The struggle is life
You should live like you never live twice
Enjoying the pleasures; the pain it’s the game
It makes you who you are; no two humans are the same
Learning your weakness, modifying your flaws
Sooner or later, you could be someone else’s boss
No, I ain’t here to preach, I’m just laying some laws
Know who you are and you’ll stand up much more tall

By CM

Constantly thinking about your love
Has my heart tied up in a knot
Because besides my family
Girl, you’re all that I got

Constantly thinking about your smile
And all the beauty in your blush
And all the love we made
After we’d argue and fuss

Constantly thinking about your style
And what makes you so unique
Constantly thinking about how being with you
Makes me feel complete

Constantly thinking about all the things
That I know were meant to be
And the most important of them all
Is the thought of you and me

By CM

If I ever had the chance
I’d fly you to the moon
Align the stars to spell your name
And say “the ring’s coming soon.”

If I ever had the chance
I’d tell you to be ready by three
Tell you we’re going somewhere special
Then take you to KFC

If I ever had the chance
I’d buy you a big bouquet
Kiss you, then whisper in your ear
That I am here to stay

See me and you
Could be something great, boo
On an island, sipping wine, eating grapefruit
Twenty stories up, in a penthouse with a great view
Anywhere you wanna go
Baby, I will take you ….

But I just need a chance

By RD

Who want to hear my thoughts?
Who want to know my pain?
To hear my thoughts you must listen to me
To know my pain you must understand me
My thoughts are home, family, and being free
My pain is being away from my family
That’s the main thing that crushes me

People want me to write poems
But it’s not easy when my thoughts are on other things
People say everything is going to be ok
But I’m the one going through it and they’re doing fine
People say I’m a good person with a good heart and mind
So why am I still doing time?
All who want to hear and know my pain…
Hurry up because it’s a long line

By RD

You’re in my thoughts, my dreams
When I open my eyes
I can’t wait to see you
Can’t wait to hear your voice
Your laughter makes my day too
We joke, we argue
But that’s just what people in love do
You’re my friend, my partner, my lover
I’m glad you’re with me until this journey is through
You make me laugh, I make you laugh
Because that’s what friends do
I hold you up, you hold me up
Because you’re my partner too
You’re my lover
You attract me and I attract you
Don’t doubt my love for a second
Because my love is true
Besides, you’re my heart
I couldn’t get rid of you if I wanted to

By RD

Upstream, upstream
I have to make it upstream!
The current is so strong
I don’t know if I can make it
I’ve been swimming so long
I don’t know how much longer my body can take it

Mentally and physically weakened
Upstream, upstream, can I make it?
I just want to be at peace
I just want to rest
Can I make it up the stream
Where there’s freedom and no distress?

Sometimes I just want to stop
And just go with the flow
I can drown to a watery tomb or float to freedom
Who will ever know?
I close my eyes as I relax
And pray for the better

Don’t give up, you’re almost there
Don’t give up!
My family and friends believe
They cheer me on!
I open my eyes and jolt forward
And push and push and push!

Upstream, upstream
I will be free
I will make it up stream!
Tough situations only last for a minute
But tough people last forever
I am forever tough
And this stream is a little obstacle
And I will hold together
Upstream, upstream
I will make it and be free of the forever!

By AH
Dedicated to Tyree, a Free Minds member who lost his life to gun violence November 8, 2013

What good is a reputation
If it demands the lives of millions of young black men and women to attain it?
Surely we have forgotten that our blood is sacred
And our youthfulness is pure
At least it was before we picked up the sword

What is the sword?
The sword is drugs, violence, money, and guns
These are the things that hold more weight in our heart than love
We are weak to the pleasures of this carnal earth
When our passion should never have ruled over our lives
Because sometimes your passion could bring misfortune to your front door

So how can our action be right when we have no rule of our lives?
Nothing can be just if acted upon without reason
What is life for such a man, but the phantom of a dream?
Maybe the truth is we are our own worst enemies
We are so concerned with people’s general opinions
When half of the generality of young men are ignorant
I mean, will it kill us to look in the mirror?
Or are we as scared of our own reflection as a groundhog is of its own shadow?

Matter of fact, I want you to close your eyes
And imagine that you are a working 25 year-old young man
I want you to imagine that you have a 7-year-old son
Who is the spitting image of you
And loves his Daddy dearly
For once in your life, smile at the fact that you are trying to better yourself

Now, open your eyes
Only to see a bloody shirt as screams echo through the air
This was Tyree (before the sword)

By CS

Violence is life
Violence comes from bad decisions
I see violence every day
It looks like a tornado
That destroys everything in its path
It smells like garbage juice; a sewer
It sounds like thunder on a quiet night
It tastes like a bitter lime
It feels like a knife going in your side
Violence lands you in here
I wish there was no such thing as violence
I will change the world
Be a good influence by spreading the message:
Violence is not the key
Violence changes lives forever

By AJ

Friends and family
Responsible (very)
Easy going
Exceptional people

Motivators
Involved in most members’ personal lives
Nice
Determined to excel
Supporters (extremely supportive)

By CR

I used to always think
That I was going to be in college
But whole time, I’m sitting in a jail cell
With an orange jumper
To me I see that we’re in a pumpkin patch
‘Cuz all you see is orange
I know behind these walls is a thing called freedom
Something people including myself took for granted
But now that I’m not free
I know what it mean to have freedom
I hope one day I can tell people, or mostly youth
That freedom can be taken away in an instant