Drawing the Best of both worlds
By Latice Daniels
Eng 102
I smell a skunk like smoke making its way through my vents…..
How hypnotizing they all think……
.I see the amount of lighters which found themselves by the foot of my door way.
They crawl !towards me but I feel no sort of temptation
. As I try to do homework I notice narcotics were making up the oxygen in the air without me physically putting my lips on the substance
I inhale it to survive…
Sometimes it feels unrealistic ..
I’m living the dream of a nightmare, but only sometimes. …..
I could write like a beautiful poet having you visualize…
I could just put you in my shoes and have you physically see my hood …
the walls I’m covered within ..
You would smell the kennedy fried chicken
see some unsanitary roads and sidewalks field with trash and feel like you’re part of the nightmare you won’t be able to wake up from
or I could have you read the standard form of my literature cause I’m writing this outside of college
No I’m not a poet just someone who’s been through hell and back.
One day I’ll write a novel . .. just to tell my story.
Let me stay on track .
I seem to have ….
all these distractions but I still remain calm and humble…..
I just gotta fight society and earn my doctorate degree ..
I cautiously whisper to myself…
I don’t have a row of zeros in my bank account but I sure do have confidence….
This government owned listing is .. …..
….. … .. what I call home but not for long…
it’s just a temporary situation i’m facing that’s infinitely creating its own obstacles.
Day by day I maneuver myself around the challenge…
… gaining knowledge and gripping onto my strength
so I won’t weaken
I just have to win ,it’s the battle of humanity
.We must let go of the life that we have planned, so we can accept the one that is pending for us
. I can’t direct the wind to move south or west or put time on a freeze…
but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination.
I’m living two lives. . .
One minority …
one that I just am known as a number…
a zip code with the background of southside queens….
a public assistance account number …
not even being known for being a citizen
… but the side of town I resign in.
I went from Ebt to Phd…
.My professor knows me differently they have no idea, the forces I fight every morning to just be present in class….
A smile can hide so much
sorrow and
regret….
I’m surrounded by negative energy and lazy minds.
I cant let people pull me into their storms….
I just pull them into my tranquility.
In the game of life being less diverse
It’s just simply the result of less options
I’m glad I could always switch it up
My flow is out of this world .
I use my street knowledge to deal with situations and my book smart to pass classes to better myself …..
Isn’t that something ..
I don’t consider myself a poor deprived ghetto who made great ….
I consider myself an inspirational individual
who from an early age knew I was in charge of myself, and ..
needed to change the way my race is looked upon in society
I wanna see less teenage pregnancies and more vows being exchanged….
will that happen within my race? Less children not knowing if their sperm donor will support them or tend for them…
Less gender reveal parties to teens who aren’t even in a stable relationship.
In the event that I didn’t form my existence..
at that point despite everything
.. i’d be in the ghetto where individuals like me should remain and never move from
You need to dream out of the bad dream
. I was delivered on june for a reason.
My purpose for existing is not just to survive, but rather to flourish…
and to do it with some energy, some empathy, some diversion, and some style
Keep your face dependably toward the daylight and shadows will fall behind you
I looked the other way as they floated continuously around me
In some messed up situations my inner peace controls my brain…
It guides
me sometimes I attempt to respond back
my lips vibrate ..
and nothing comes out. ..
I can’t even stoop down to someone else’s level I remain on my own..
. Ignorance can’t change my purpose in life …
Achievement isn’t measured by cash or power or social status. Achievement is measured by your schooling which gives you new knowledge to teach others and maintain inward peace.
Online networking is changing the way we convey and the way we are seen…
both emphatically and adversely
Each time you post a photograph, or refresh your status, you are adding to your own advanced impression and individual brand
I cannot contribute to anything less of a scholar. .
Don’t diss the caterpillar
and aspect to be around when it blooms into a butterfly .
Don’t underestimate me from my texture. ..
Wow!!! This is great! I felt the words as if it was me.. so powerful.. Excellent!!
LA,
I’m speechless. The part about dreaming a nightmare, about differentiating between street knowledge and book smarts and how you strategically deploy different knowledges… “a zipcode with the background of southside queens” — just gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. Thank you for sharing this. Truly. Wow. And this? “I don’t have a row of zeros in my bank account but I sure do have confidence….” — beautiful. Tremendously beautiful.
A clarifying question: “Achievement is measured by your teach” — did you mean a different word here? If not, that’s totally okay but it’s going over my head: explain please and thank you?
A few very very minor things, spelling/word choice — maneuver in the line “day by day”; “expect” in the second to last line; “their” not “there” in the line about sperm donors (which is also tremendously, tremendously powerful, by the way); and “vows” not vowels in the line “I wanna see”.
I am blown away by this. Don’t forget to include your artist’s statement (the questions for which are detailed on the assignment sheet, also in the announcements section of the course site) with your final draft! Phenomenal work!!! Thank you for sharing!!!
JP
This is absolutely incredible!