Thoughts of a Black College Girl Leaving the South

Tue, 07/10/2018 - 10:46 -- ballen7

Wordsworth and Coleridge taught me some things

On appreciating nature and to love what life brings.

Wordsworth left his home to travel to beautiful places.

He beheld the beauty and let it inspire all his poetry’s faces.

 

Should I stay or should I go?

Should I leave my friends and foes?

Should I travel out afar?

Or should I stay and learn to drive a car?

 

Should I take care of my Dad?

He’s sick, but not that bad.

Should I stay to help my Mom?

I couldn’t find a better one on Mother-Mom .com!

 

Maybe I should just stay,

Where it is mostly safe.

But no place is really safe in the good US of A.

 

All I ever wanted was to be the greatest artist.

To learn,

To grow,

And to find out what my whole life’s part is.

 

 

To be a fashionista,

And to slay in city streets.

To wear my funky 70’s clothes,

And look like a sweet treat.

 

I want to let my fro

Fly freer than free.

In a place with many cultures,

Chicago’s the place to be.

Where no one stared at my larger than life afro kinky hair,

They all buzzed about

And no one really gave a care.

 

But should I stay in the deep south

Where everything is quiet?

Where the most exciting thing is when my Mom started a diet?

Where my skin is too dark and my hair is too big?

And in college, I worry about more than my trig.

 

I worry about the white girl that won’t talk to me,

Simply because I am darker than she.

If she doesn’t appreciate the complexion of my skin

Or the glow that it emits when I shine from within,

Then why does she imitate with self-tanner and spray?

Why would she discriminate against me today?

 

Should I stay in the deep?

With the Mississippi heat.

Where so many have died that blood ran in the streets.

You think I am exaggerating?

I promise I’m not.

Search the book “Bloody Kemper”

It’s food for thought.

 

I want to be free and I want to see the world.

I want to learn Spanish and practice unfurled.

I want to do things that I cannot do here.

The country is for people who retire and hunt deer.

 

I want to appreciate other cultures and skin tones.

I promised to buy my parents new expensive iPhones.

We could Facetime to see each other I want to tell myself.

But is that really the same as me seeing them in health?

 

 

Is Facetime the same as taking my Mom to work?

Is Facetime the same as teaching my Dad to twerk?

I know that it’s not but I know what to do

If I want to grow and learn to be true

 

I have to branch out and leave for Chicago.

To make myself better I know that I must go.

To be a famous artist so I can do things

I must shed forever my Mississippi wings.

This poem is about: 
Me
My family
My community
My country
Our world
Guide that inspired this poem: 
Poetry Terms Demonstrated: 

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