Politically Thinking, Poetically Speaking

In November, Teen Voices invited girls from all over Boston to speak out about politics of all kinds, in a fabulous spoken word event entitled If I Ruled The World. We hope these poems inspire you as much as they inspired us.

One Visionary
Mariah Cole, 16
Massachusetts

Enslaved in these chains
Chained like a slave called life
I may not be familiar with the streets
But I run the streets of my reality
A reality where my thoughts lay unsure
An unready bird too quickly thrown into flight
Can’t decide whether to go left or right
Waiting to be convinced
Convince me to break from these locks and run free
Run to overthrow the society of rules
To live life such as it truly is
Filled with the beauty man has corrupted
Corrupted so that this new warming does not warm hearts, but the fire
Burning deep that is ready to release
My flower is left wilting in the shadows it must overcome
But still I rise like the words recited by the still powerful Maya Angelou
I eagerly take the gifts that the world and my surroundings have presented to me
And present this gift to my awaiting future
My advancement forward results in my graduation in both developing me
and education
All you and I must do is press play
And progress forward making our lives fulfilling every day

Change
Sally Nguyen, 16
Massachusetts

I walk this unknown path, and catch a glimpse of the sun
I feel the rays of heat go deep within my soul
I go about my way, unsure of things
And feel another rush against my heart beat
So I stop, take a seat, and write down what I see
I grab my pen to let this ink electrify
The lines to this paper with a crazy vibe
Everything seen has been intensified
only to be seen through these eyes of mine
I escape in thought, and let the environment control my mind
I look and I see a world of unfairness, a world of different classes, a world that needs more peace.
I see the world as my giant obstacle and my challenge is to go through the many obstacles to get through life.

With the six billion dollars spent for the war in Iraq
Our country has definitely gotten off track
Forgetting about the important things like health and education
We have to at least be healthy and smart to be a strong nation.
And this 700 billion dollar bailout plan? What a joke!
All that money got printed and just went up in smoke.
A bailout? Yeah right. Isn't that funny?
Why did we ever think Bush would know what to do with that money?

America is supposed to be the land of the American Dream
But it’s more like a nightmare doesn't it seem?
State budget got cut, now Boston Medical can't help poor families.
How are they supposed to get help? Money doesn't just grow on trees!
People come to this country for a better life -
But they end up realizing that it's mad pain and strife.
I'm scared.
As I look at the world around me - I'm afraid
What if I can't go to college or get care for my health?
The things we can’t change without wealth.
This is what I see when I look around me.

But I still have hope.
Do you know why?
Because there is a new person that we are giving a try.
President Obama is my hope,
He will change our nation to make it fair and just
So in myself, Obama and God I trust!!!
Let's make this country a better and safer country to be.
For you and for me

So as I sit back and put my notebook away,
I am sure of things today.

If I Were President
Maurissa Walker, 16
Massachusetts

I'm a girl, yes it's true.
If I was a president poetically speaking, now what exactly would I do?
Imagine a world full of hatred and crime, everybody dies when it’s nowhere near their time. Little boys tryna be gangstas, acting like they know what they’re doing, playing with guns, knives.
Then you have little girls tryna be grown, or the ones who have no choice, because of the situation they were handed in life, but it always takes pride, because self pity makes them cry.
My motto in life is "things in life happen for reasons, let me just hope those reasons have meaning."
But if those REASONS in life didn't have MEANINGS, THINGS in life wouldn’t happen, we won't ask ourselves why.
Now imagine.
Everybody getting along, helping out. And there won't be no wrong.
No violence, no crime.
Economy would be better, there would be no bailout.
Everything would just be better.
There would be no poor, not if I can help it.
Time for the weak to say I'm strong, ＆ the poor to say I'm rich.
Schooling will be a priority, there will be no dropouts.
Jails will be mandatory, we wouldn’t help the criminals out, but we wouldn’t take their vote away.
They are people who are free to speak, just because they’re in jail, doesn’t mean they’re not human beings.
To be a president means a lot, I can go on and say a whole bunch of
things I'm not.
I would want what's best for this country, I wouldn’t discriminate against any.
My country is your country.
We must all just get along.
Now when you hear this
Just remember we are ONE nation, divided we fall.

Untitled
Joannie Ortiz, 17
Massachusetts

Well ain't we the damned
And still the same we say
We are the true and proud
We are the Kings and Queens. And we
Can be all that we want to be
We can do anything because we are so great…hn…

Rape, kidnaps, child molestation, manipulation
Why does that even happen in such a "great nation"?
The bus driver skipping your stop, leaving you last
Or looking up at your cousin, looking up at her
Wondering is this right to do?
Is this okay?
Or looking at a guy friend but always thinking back to the first one
The one who had broken that trust only a seven year old can give
And now think in disgust…

Looking upon yourself in the mirror…
"look what the world hath wrought"
"I don't want to look pretty" -let's make another scarring mark
"I don't like how I look…"
Well screw the rules! It's not my fault!

My actions come with a reason
And as I stand before you, my voice
my actions, are all that I am and all that you see
But every joker has a blank side- same as the rest of the cards
And every infant is later tainted
Don't look at me different
I smile because now is better than the past
And there will be times when I will cry
And my actions will make no sense
And my voice will crack
But I'm still here

Let me keep my infancy, my innocent untainted mind, my voice
Let me pretend things never happened and let me deny
Let me forget the confusion
Let me forget how to mistrust from their broken trust and pray
Pray that I don't become like those three who would do such wrong
Pray I don't ever ever wish to want to know
How it's like… to probe, hover and at another, look down upon
With this voice and smile and finally I can finally say "it's not my fault!"
…cause it's not
And it's not theirs… it's no one’s fault
But the one who spread the hurt first…

From now on…
I'm tired of hiding in the closet…
I will be silent no more…