My eyes were immediately drawn to Uncensored by Matty Mendez. A person's art is a form of free expression that should not be suppressed by anyone who thinks it is offensive or explicit. I usually avoid poetry like the plague, but this hit home.

Reading Matty's piece was like waking from a coma I didn't know I was in. Censorship is rampant not only in the media, but in daily lives as well. The poem says, "I am not a category" and "A meaningless statistic/ On your fancy chart/ I will not be put in a place/ Told what to do/ What to make." "Don't put a censored bar/ Over my heart" is a line that is repeated. People think censorship protects others from things deemed socially unacceptable. However, it narrows down every mind to a single thought, greatly limiting creativity and progress in all aspects.

Personally, I am against censorship as an amateur writer, and I would not want my writing to get banned because its contents are considered inappropriate. I would want my words to be spoken without a voice, my mind to be heard without sound. Art should be seen not just with a pair of eyes, and the black bar removed from the heart.