Tragic Injustice

Birds chirping, bright sun burning, breeze blowing

As I stood behind the starting line, waiting for the buzzer to count down from five

Dashing out past my competitor, but not even making it to the middle, I heard the giggles

I immediately stopped dead in my tracks, my heart racing to the max

To comprehend the chaos going on around me, I was thinking, maybe it’s all in my head

As the chanting got louder, my legs got weak, my stomach started to turn and my heart felt bleak

“You run like a girl” they all shouted

Pointing… laughing, some falling to the ground

As I stood there, I wished to turn invisible, wished I never stood at the start line, wished I never accepted the challenge

Trudging home, dreadfully, embarrassed, mortified

Approaching my mom to finally ask what “Running like a girl” meant

As she looked in my eyes, coming up with an appropriate reply for such a little child as I

Not knowing how to explain the already self-explanatory statement

I sat, watched TV and acted as nothing had happened

People may not understand how this affected me

And at that age, not understanding gender inequality

But now as I am older, with government colder

Corporate America, a thief

Incomes based on gender?  We should protest

Will I ever seek the justice I deserve, is there no guarantee?

Government ran primarily by white males, the lack of female representation tips the scales

The dream of achieving equal income based on race is just that…. a dream

As males are still deemed to be most superior in our society, people still acting like we live in 1953

It is time to wake up! It is time to start a revolution!  It is time to make these dreams a reality!

For single hard working mothers, to support their teenage daughters

For women who are teachers, doctors, work in armed forces

All are brave, strong, independent individuals, who should not have to follow these shallow principles

 

 

Luminous Liberation

Turning to face the vast sea, salt hitting the tip of the tongue

Cool air dancing through the hair

Intense sunlight highlighting every inch of skin

Taking note of the dispersed lingering feathery clouds

The clouds representing fragments of hope

Listening to the high tides crashing upon the jagged rocks from below

Losing yourself in the rhythmic sound of the water rushing back to the ocean

Looking straight ahead, far out, to inspect the end of the sea

Being engulfed in an euphoric state of mind

Hoping to forever stay in that time

Hoping to never go back to the stress in daily life

Hoping to escape all the problems that clog the soul

Maybe that’s all someone needs, just to escape for a moment

To relax and find happiness in the little things

To become one with the wind, the sea and the earth

To take into consideration everything else, selfless

You may even wish upon a genie to stay in that pure and ideal setting till the end of time  

…But eventually reality finds its way back

Instead of denying it, it’s time to welcome it with open arms

Welcome it was a smile as radiant as the sun on that memorable day

Accept the flaws in different components

Accept the raw-fullness that comes with every new experience

Accept the obligations that encompass you

Remember, it is okay to escape once and awhile

 

 

Murderous Consequent

We…… have….. GUNS!

Grief, guilt and fear

The threat of violence

Waves of fear created by attacks

Deadly weapons used

Gunfire at Jr. High schools, High Schools, Colleges, Universities

 

Opened fire and wounded…on the front line

Ongoing danger

Running in terror

So relentless

Kids living in chronic war zones

Lockdowns, active-shooter drills

As young as four hide in darkened closets

 

Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, Nikolas Cruz, Adam Lanza

 

The damage they left behind

The emotional damage lingered for years

Insidious and potentially life altering

Traumatized as children, with nightmares too scary to talk about

 

Knees buckled, collapsed to the grass, trembling

Kids, educators, staff, family members killed

Many injured

Less than three months into 2018… with 11 shootings

 

Still grieving the friends and classmates they lost

The community and schoolmates blamed themselves for the attack

A country with more than 250 million guns

With the responsibility to prevent school shootings

To learn in a place free from violence

All the while, Trump had the audacity to blame gun violence on the failure of America’s mental-health system

-“The Extraordinary Number of Kids Who Have Endured School Shootings since Columbine”

 

 

Poetic Response: Self-Reflection

            Poems are definitely not my strong suit, but as I was writing the poems, I tried to use as much descriptive language I can in order to appeal and captivate my audience.  My audience throughout each poem is different based on the content portrayed.  The free verse poem titled, “Luminous Liberation” appeals to all individuals because it describes how to let yourself go in the moment and to enjoy the space around you, in order to escape from reality.  The purpose of that poem is to help an individual feel more content and to understand how to appreciate certain aspects in life.  I selected the title, “Luminous Liberation” because it reflects the feeling of the sun touching the skin on a warm summer’s day.  Also, it conveys the feeling the individual experiences as they are liberated from everyday stress and obstacles.  Two major rhetorical devices, anaphora and simile, were used throughout the poem in order to clearly deliver the overall message of the poem.  

            The next poem, “Murderous Consequent” is a found poem where words and phrases were extracted from a text and rearranged in order to convey a message to the reader.  The purpose of the poem is to bring attention to the violence present in schools all around America.  The poem specifically states the names of well-known perpetrators who caused immense terror and bloodshed.  The poem descriptively talks about the results of the attacks on the children who would experience permanent emotional damage for having to witness such traumatic events.   For the audience, the poem is supposed to speak to individuals who did not personally experience the tragic event, so they are able to understand the effects and results.  It also speaks to administrators and to individuals in government.  Those who first-handedly have the ability to stop these attacks.  This may happen if the attacks weren’t blamed specifically on mental-health, but on all aspects, which includes the convenience and availability to get a hold of a firearm.

            The last poem is a narrative poem called “Tragic Injustice” which starts off by telling a personal story by which I am critiqued and judged based on stereotype associated with my gender.  By exploring a part of my identity I was able to express how that little statement affected me and how it is a simple statement which represents a massive underlying issue of gender inequality.  Towards the end of the poem, I was able to express my current feelings on the issue and talk about the lack of female representation in our government.  A narrative deemed to be the best fit for this poem because it is used to make the reader feel more connected to myself, to the event and to the issue.  A general rhyme scheme was used in order to create a flow throughout the poem.  This project overall allowed me to utilize my creativity, while learning about myself and how to use all five of my senses in order to describe a simple object or location.