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  • BRIGHT ADOLESCENT

    by ISIAH

    To the bright adolescent, the expectations rise
    for he shows his true self when he holds back no lies.
    He’s looking for affection and acceptance of those close to him,
    and only gets complaints due to successes before.
    His heart is torn from the bruises and sores,
    but everyone thinks he’s fine because
    he has a key to open any door, but he can’t open up any door,
    even though he’s a problem-solver, he can’t decode his own mystery,
    when he thinks he has the answer, it still goes on like infinity.
    Sure, every human can function with just basic needs –
    drink, eat, sleep, is that all I need?
    But he needs something more,
    something to cry for, something to ball up in your fist
    and die for, something that makes us lust for more.
    When everyone is telling you what you should do,
    you forget your own options. He wonders
    if it’s possible to handle all the stress this is causing.
    His vision is blurry.
    He has no glasses just so he can see clearly
    between what he loves and what he holds dearly,
    so his eyes start to water and he feels so sad,
    thinking it’s pathetic to even think like that.
    So he tries a new strategy,
    instead of going fast, he decides to go steady,
    not worrying about the future, just about what he has already,
    and it ends up fine because everything’s working for me.

  • BLISSFUL BEAUTY

    by ERIC

    Rudimentary thought of being sensual
    Your eyes cease my ability to breathe
    A pulmonary sensitive suffocation

    A thought taking me back
    To first principle

    Your essence equals sunshine
    An uproar of praise to your parents
    For blessing
    This lone soul with someone
    So sublime
    Light my path with your gleaming eyes
    A sparkling smile
    And hands like pillows
    So soft
    They clash and entwine
    With palms as rough and cold as mine
    To lead to the edge of time
    Then turn backwards toward forever
    My beloved love of mine causing me to do better by
    Mending a broken heart
    With broken promises
    That become actuality
    Practicality clenching the hope of catching the pursuit of happiness
    My heart isolated from the public
    We sit on the pinnacles of the towers
    So far above the gist
    Keeping my heart in your thoughts
    Unlike the others
    That clutch my heart in fists
    Keep it safe from the pessimists

  • AFFECTION THERAPY

    by ERIC

    My thoughts flourish
    Blooming of roses
    That prick the fingers
    Of the least important
    The people that show concern
    Don’t get pricked by the thorns
    You played with the intensity in my heart
    And I was scorned
    Choosing to abstain from romance
    Until I return
    The mellifluous melody of your voice kept me in contempt
    Love’s pure sting
    Showed the true difference
    My thoughts apprehended
    Taken captive
    Catching my hands to burn
    Stripping my independence
    The drug in me is you
    And I am dependent
    Your love is my addiction
    Our separation is my withdrawal
    The razor cuts to me are like
    A heroin needle being imprinted
    Heroine mission
    Grasps my attention
    Take me away from tendencies
    That lead me to the ledge of buildings
    Your aroma is my stimulant
    Your picture remains in my mind
    Like lockets
    But I try to discard the pendant
    I am sent to rehab for love
    But remain lackadaisical of your remembrance
    I strain to gain the voice to utter good riddance
    Some say that I need that
    But to me if we were face to face, it would be a relapse

  • SPLIT SECOND

    by ERIC

    A cultivated mind
    Is ushered onto the wrong path and the steps backwards are fading
    As the sand gets wet by the tears
    The dirt is stained
    Into the cracked pavement
    Adolescents trip as they tries to chase it
    Nonstop into traffic
    As automobiles only graze them
    The headlights lay on the horizon of there thoughts
    But if the perspective for this time being was changing
    to behind the front license plating
    The thoughts of the driver as the direction of the car swerves, swaying
    Speeding past the image of child
    Because of the bad day and lost of patience
    Being laid off from income
    Left the driver with clenched teeth
    And now laid into hospital bed just waiting
    For the medication to settle the pain
    From hitting a tree
    Loss of money and concentration
    Is a small price to pay for the ability to not have to grieve
    A split second is the difference between head-on injury

  • END TO BEGINNING

    by DEMONTE

    I was raised in the 317, born in Cleveland city.
    I saw all these dudes in the pity,
    smokin and drinkin to their end,
    gangsta thug play tryin to fit in,
    but the end is where most begin,
    change their life around to win,
    but on this road to success some will be injured, maybe even die,
    but if they believe in HIM they will fly.
    thats why I say some should start their lives from the end
    to make a new beginning.

    I knew a guy when I was young. He was screwed up in the head. He was one one of those types of people who knew right from wrong, but he always did the wrong and told me and my friends to do the right. Like one day, me and my friends were riding our bikes around the block, and we saw a group of dudes jumping this one guy, but we knew that the guy was joining that gang because you have to be jumped to get in a gang. So the guy finally got up and it was him who told us not to do wrong. Then it was weird, right when he got off the ground, he looked up straight at us and then started limping towards us. When he finally was in front of us, he said don’t ever join a gang.

    Me and my friends were like why is he telling us this and he just joined a gang, but we all said nothing. I knew he was a good person playing gangster. I also knew that getting jumped into a gang is not all you have to do to get in a gang. You also have to prove yourself, that means you have to injure or kill someone. I wondered to myself would this guy who tells us not to do wrong kill or hurt someone. Two days later, I heard my mom screaming on the phone, and I was pretty sure that she was getting bad news on the phone. When she got off, I asked her what’s wrong. She said the guy who always told us to do good not wrong had to prove himself to the gang and he tried to shoot another person in a different gang but instead he got shot in the head. He was in a coma for six weeks before he finally woke up.

    He could not work the right side of his body that well, and he stuttered a lot. He had to do 6 months of physical therapy, and he was wheelchair bound for a while, and when he came out of the hospital, he was a different person, not physically but spiritually. He was totally into Christ and all throughout the neighborhood he would speak of God, and people listened. He changed my hood. He died going into that hospital and came out the hospital born again. He started his life from the end and made a new beginning.