A couple of weeks ago tSB brought in Youth Speaks to do a poetry workshop. It was incredible. Below is a sample of some of the work Irene produced that night.
Dear December:
You keep me up all night.
You’ve cried on every single shirt I own, but I still don’t know you.
I”m the kind of person your parents hate, but then again,
your parents hate everything.
You’re always cold,
And I hold your blue hands to my neck and just breathe.
Never getting why everyone hates you,
The ground needs to sleep,
and its not like you stole it, you just hid it for a bit,
Its almost your way of rewarding us,
the ones who are happy to see it again.
You never close your curtains,
so the neighbors close theirs
and you sit drunkenly on fire escapes and keep me from escaping,
we both hate hotel parties.
You go bathing suit shopping
when the mall’s empty
And you like to sleep with the TV on,
Because its just too damn quiet outside with you around.
You drink 7-11 coffee by the gallon
And write by the light of your iPod when the power’s down.
“Hip, Hop, Hip, Hop…”
Dead Prez lights the way for your shitty handwriting
till the batteries die,
Then again you’d usually rather sleep anyway,
Hibernate, Contemplate,
Drive your own autumn hangover the rest of the way away,
Your room’s a wreck,
Just how you like it,
You’ve stashed all your shit in other people’s cars,
So your sisters won’t blow it away,
You like your random shit just like
I like you
But I still don’t get why your mother hates me, anyway.
