Write That I | Teen Ink

Write That I

July 5, 2016
By stuckinthemiddle GOLD, Greenville, South Carolina
stuckinthemiddle GOLD, Greenville, South Carolina
11 articles 1 photo 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
"Today I beat my personal best for most consecutive days alive."
-Unknown


Write that I was never home
that my home
was
              the dirt below my knees
write that my shelter was paper thin
                                                                       that
I had a cloak of yesterday's news
tell how that
On broken nights
   the stars were my only friends
               and explain-
to them-
that the man in the moon
             sang me to a forgiving night
and then explain-
to them-
that the yellow sun
        kissed me awake to harsh morning

Write that I
was always,
                        hungry,
even when I had something to eat
and tell them how
no one looked in my eye
because to them I didn't exist-
         to them I was a victim to be washed to the
gutter
explain-
    to them-
that I was stuck
                               between
                                                shadows of the sky
and that I had to hold the clouds
until the day that I demised

Write that I
was a nightmare,
a figment of the dark,
or write that I
was a dream of day
write that I
                        was a nobody
but tell them I was a somebody
tell them that you could always
                                              hear me-
the clang of a single penny
against the clang of another man's dreams

Write that I was whatever you needed me to be
write that I tried, write that I struggled
but write that I always fell back down with
no hands to pick me back
                                                  up
you can write that I was nothing
but please write that I
was
        HERE.


The author's comments:

This is a poem written from the perspective of a homeless or oppressed person in society. The speaker is telling the reader what to tell everone when they leave or die. It is meant to show the significance of everyone's lives and that we all matter.


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