by Jean E., 18
Like the big smack
The ears and their unwillingness
That cracks upon hearing harsh confrontations
Soon will turn back
And react
But
Me, I have confidence, I don’t
Lack that
Cause her saying that
Talking to me like that
Man that’s kinda wack
She shut me out
And pushed me back, but
Like a boomerang, I came
Right back, just like that
And now I’m in a better place
One where her words aren’t placed
Like a foot on my neck as I gasped for
Air upon a dreary gaze
Like she’ll never believe this
But I made it to a higher place
In the better space and I like it
But my brain and what it lacks
The words that came and I couldn’t place
Them onto my heart, they just wouldn’t sit
It’s like I had a heart attack attacking
Like a child who doesn’t want his broccoli
So he had the chair rockin’
It’s like how I heard the thunders strike and striking
And how the cracking
Had my attention
Drifting from whatever she was
Saying
And the pain had come
As people were watching, so I tried
To maintain a fake smile only because I
Felt ashamed at her questioning
Her words were drifting and blackening
My mind till she was out of my sight
Like a log fading away
Or a puppy leaving where he’ll stay
But now gone away and astray
I could still feel the presence of the harshness
Because when I was vulnerable
And I felt weak, it meant
That it was time for her to feed
When my mouth was shut
And I didn’t say anything
Or do anything
Cause if I did
I’d end up in the pound like a pup
Like my people that knew, they’re
Talking about who was fighting
With peaceful protest, that’s how they fought
That doesn’t mean that they’re soft
Against the violence we sought
It’s the fact that you can’t add more fire
To fire just like today that fire will stay
The same because that fire, if we add more
To it, will just become their desire
So we’ve been able to stay mellow but
We had fought and we had enough
Have you ever been in a war that you didn’t
Intend while you were peacefully protesting?
Because it’s tough
Because you’re fighting against a gun with
Your peaceful voice is rough
So I wanted to bite down like a big mutt, like
The squirrel that chews and chopped his nut
But I didn’t, I just didn’t fuss
Because I was in my
Grown age, not the stone age
Which would have been thought
To be a new age but still, things have
Changed, and we were so close
Because like the woman
Who was thought to be weak
But strong enough to stay in her
Seat as they tried to make her move
To the backseat
Like the many attempts to make us stay on our knees
That didn’t succeed
So they’ve grown to anger
And the great became the assassinated
As he stated he had a dream
Do you understand? I’m saying
I’m not taking it anymore
Like the lion, I’m roaring as emotions are shell-
Shocked and shattering and I’m coming
Out of them and I’m stopping this
From ever happening because I have a race
I’m representing and the up and coming
Whose now up for teaching cause they don’t
See us as kids
But as grown men who are on the
Verge of going straight down the
Pipeline because that learned characteristic
To hate is from the conception of thought
So what I’m going to do along with you
Is simmer down with a calm voice
Cause it speaks loud louder and
More effective than the invisible
Shackles and whips that hit
Because when they thought
The hit was tremendous
And looked at us when
They thought we fell
In agony, we had only
Rose likes the beautifully bloomed ebony.
Asbury Park, New Jersey
Notes from our interns on selecting this piece: Excellent rhythm. Unexpected line breaks. Words that practically read themself off the page. Crackling similes and strong details. This is a voice that demands to be heard.
Bridge Ink 