Growing up Poems
The home I grew up in
by Carter Botham
You missed it when you walked in,
The tiles in the bathroom that looked like an ogre,
That had captured my imagination as a child.
You missed that the bottom stair was harder,
The leak in the upstairs bathroom that was neglected and left to the care of a bowl,
Emptied weekly as if this chore was less than fixing it.
You missed the dent in the paint from the arguments,
Doors slammed haphazardly into walls,
The stain on the carpet from way back when,
......
Don't look under the bed
by Dorothy Eleanor
Every child reaches the age
When their thoughts need no consent.
When hearts twist and writhe,
Simple encounters evoke torment.
Days pass as moments,
Slipping through the tightest of grips;
Youth kisses sweet time goodbye
With soft, selfish lips.
......
If only I could travel as far as my eyes can see
by Marra Makinen
An eighteen hour trip with two layovers
But when the mechanical wings finally breach the clouds
It's worth it
This land, however distant, is lush and green
Hills mark the skyline and square patches show the division of farms like a patchwork quilt
White dots speckle the ground and I never realized so many sheep existed
It's different here
I can drink despite only being eighteen
Buses and trains take me places I only knew cars to take me before
......
I thought twins could never be apart
by Marra Makinen
18 years of
“Look after each other,”
Making sure the other was alright
After a small fight or major disappointment
18 years we’ve been together,
Literally since the womb,
Teaching each other and
Knowing everything about one another’s lives
......
Turning 21
by Rahma Abdulle
Scared;
Scared to see the world beyond the shade I've always gazed through. Afraid that there might be something that I've missed. Crippled with this feeling of anxiety that I don't belong that I'm not wanted that there's no way out for me. I'm afraid of my hopes and dreams, what once seemed like a lifetime away slowly creeping in….ticktock. it says, "are you ready yet? What have you to show for yourself" in debt and alone i silence myself for if I was to speak what could I say for myself?
Turning 21
by Rahma Abdulle
Scared;
Scared to see the world beyond the shade I've always gazed through. Afraid that there might be something that I've missed. Crippled with this feeling of anxiety that I don't belong that I'm not wanted that there's no way out for me. I'm afraid of my hopes and dreams, what once seemed like a lifetime away slowly creeping in….ticktock. it says, "are you ready yet? What have you to show for yourself" in debt and alone i silence myself for if I was to speak what could I say for myself?
If only I could travel as far as my eyes can see
by Marra Makinen
An eighteen hour trip with two layovers
But when the mechanical wings finally breach the clouds
It's worth it
This land, however distant, is lush and green
Hills mark the skyline and square patches show the division of farms like a patchwork quilt
White dots speckle the ground and I never realized so many sheep existed
It's different here
I can drink despite only being eighteen
Buses and trains take me places I only knew cars to take me before
......
The Ville
by Corey Alpough
The Ville, established in 1948.
Despite the violence it was a place that made me great.
Killers, robbers, crackheads too.
Wasn’t really scared cause that’s all we knew.
Mother, Father, Auntie’s and Uncles,
They was raised in the Ville like a lion in the jungle.
Big family so they came with a rumble,
bad influences that can make you stumble,
maybe even crumble.
......
I thought twins could never be apart
by Marra Makinen
18 years of
“Look after each other,”
Making sure the other was alright
After a small fight or major disappointment
18 years we’ve been together,
Literally since the womb,
Teaching each other and
Knowing everything about one another’s lives
......
Don't look under the bed
by Dorothy Eleanor
Every child reaches the age
When their thoughts need no consent.
When hearts twist and writhe,
Simple encounters evoke torment.
Days pass as moments,
Slipping through the tightest of grips;
Youth kisses sweet time goodbye
With soft, selfish lips.
......
