Poems

By DI

If I was able 2 be me
I would
I would smile, I would chill
But I can’t
I can’t become great
I can only become a statistic
I guess it’s the American Way
2 kill, 2 deal
2 spend my life in jail
2 die for nothing
Or stand 4 something
Livin’ in darkness
Is what they want
Stop my brightness
Is what they can’t
Unity is what we need
But realness makes ‘em faint
Ask me why I feel this way
And I would say
I was born this way
They made me this way
Who did?
Does it matter?
Do my thoughts count?
In your eyes, am I just a body count?

By JP

Kids starving, momma nodding and pops foreign
These are the broken homes that most of us were born in
No food, no heat and no water
This here is poverty where life expectancy is much shorter
No shoes, holey clothes and runny noses
In a place where praying is unheard of and who is Moses?
Prostitutes, drug dealers and cold killers
Doing errands for them so I can eat is all I remember
Birthdays was the worst day
We had to steal out of stores when we was thirsty
They say that it ain’t no love for the wicked
But don’t judge us, life chose us—we didn’t pick it
Surrounded by steel gates non of them pickets
It’s like we were raised for jail; I don’t get it
Kids getting used, molested and abused
Wearing long sleeves to school to hide the bruise
M.O.B a lot of dudes say they live by the rules
And the young girls think it’s cute but they are so confused
But I love where I’m from, don’t get it misconstrued
Even back when my lil bro was crying from hunger
And I ain’t know what to do
A couple of years later and it still draws emotions from you
And it’s still taking our young men to jail by the bundles
I’m a proud survivor of our world that we call the jungle
And even when I get old and rich I’ll always remember “da struggle”

By MS

Time stands still…pause
I’m stuck in a place
Where the food isn’t right
I can’t sleep at night
Physically my body don’t belong
But I’m young and smart
And choose to free my mind
Capture the real picture
It’s crazy, I’m at a state
Where the people who I once loved
Are all acting fake
Some say it’s fate
But at the end of the day
When you’re somewhere you don’t belong
All you can do is wait
Be patient, don’t stress
Have faith, continue the struggle
And let your mind be your muscle

By: RD

You mean so much to me
And not just me, but to the world
What you mean to me
Is so sweet and unimaginable
That if you were to combine
All the seas into one as ink
And all the trees as pens
It wouldn’t dare compete

By RW

I wonder why people search
For love when it’s pain
I wonder why people want to be seen
When they are blind
I wonder why people want to walk in the light
But live in the darkness
I wonder why do people die so young?
I wonder why people fight
When they are not being attacked
I wonder why the government commands
People not to commit murder
But they sentence people to death
I wonder why the same thing that will make you laugh
Will also make you cry

By: MP

I wonder why at times I feel so bad
I wonder why at times things so small make me mad
I wonder why the judge gives people Life
I wonder why I always feel so right
I wonder why people hate for nothing
I wonder why they always put me with something
I wonder why life could be so hard
I wonder why it’s so hard for me to get a job
I wonder why a person can just lie
I wonder why when people die I don’t cry
I wonder why all I do is wonder
I wonder why it seems the streets just takin’ me under
I wonder why

By: SW

Anxious for the moment
While sadness eats inside
Looks are deceiving reality
Heart deeply cried
Smiles like a sunshine
Knowing it’s pouring down rain
Behind our face expression
We feel each other
She stays strong by day
And break down by night
I feel pain all day
But stand tall like height
So much runs through the minds
But only little is said
She knows I’m alive
But feel the situation dead
Emotions run through our body
Tears she begin to shed
My eyes began to water
Depressed, I drop my head
Face-to-face with fear
Seeing the person who carried me 9 months cry
Having me so tongue tied my mouth open
But I can’t reply
1 minute left
Clock reaching end of the line
We just witness
For the moment next time

By DJ

Life lesson of a world that calls at your name
The call of the streets
Nothing but a never ending road
Headed toward the wrong direction
Money was there
The power was there
But you never knew when death would call
So take it slow and move easy

By JP
Please man stop with the jokes
And listen to wise words being spoke
Let them excuses die in your throat
Drink some knowledge homey please don’t choke

Stop being lazy
Go and do something to amaze me
Right now you’re going through phase 3
Listening to too much Lil Wayne, 2chainz and Jay Z

The man can’t hold you back from nothing
You using any excuse ‘Cuz,’ stop fronting
Stop wasting potential and go do something
Get up get dressed and go job hunting

It’s a lot of opportunities out there man don’t miss it
Look up some workshops and take a visit
Take that iPod out your pocket and forget it
It’s jobs out there, now ride around and go get it!

By: MS

My head hurt waking up in jail
Tired of being in a cell, it’s hell
6 months have passed, I don’t want to be here no more
This is not complaining, this is me being for real
It’s not my motivation, but it’s no hesitation to kill
My poems, don’t know if I’m right or if I’m wrong
Being locked up the time feels so long
Listening sometimes turns to instigating
I’m really debating—a lot on my mind—too much time to be waiting
Raised by my mother eating beans and rice
Cuz my father didn’t raise his kids, he’d rather raise dice
My life is not too nice but I guess that’s life
Wondering if I’m going to be locked up for the rest of my life
When he seen what I did he was shocked cuz
He has just heard me talking about never being locked up

by: GD

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

by: GD

Birds chirping, leading us through
The path of freedom
We walked the path of many struggles
Stories of cries, stories of smiles
The hollow tree is where many souls lie