glow up grow up scholarship slam
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hey you
yes you
my thumbs are just angry, i’m really sorry they have to pound your face
l i k e t h i s .
I remember
calling my mother
from my grandmother’s landline
it was one of those old landlines
with the spiral cord
I looked outside the window. It wasn’t pretty or serene
Trees were bending, ducking for cover
and snow hit the ground with a scream.
Unsure, I asked, “Is this a blizzard?”
I looked outside the window. It wasn’t pretty or serene
Trees were bending, ducking for cover
and snow hit the ground with a scream.
Unsure, I asked, “Is this a blizzard?”
Lost in a dark forest
light is seemingly out of reach
Twists, turns, and stumbles
staying down is easy
A hand reaches out
then more and more
You grab hold
One step at a time
K.
Wilting like a rose
As the winter wind blows
Strong like a tree
As far as they can see.
the thick, hot air hit my skin as i stepped outside
as i walked to my dads car, the serence silence was interrupted by whistles and hollers
i look up to see a car driving away filled with men much older than me
The true tragedy is thatonly one of us ever has control over the vocal cords.
~
Remember when life was all about you?
When you could dress up as a princess any time of the day,
And you could get away with a tantrum when things didn’t go your way?
I live on the corner of Hope Drive,Next to Sesame Street and Rainbow Road.Every morning I wake up,To the gentle envelope of my mother’s arms,the sweet sound of my father’s serenade,
Age crept up on me like a shadow slinking infrom an open window: light at first,growing larger and larger as the sun grewriper and redder behind the treetopsbeyond my apartment.
The short, sweet whistle of the bird wake me
Gripping my pillow I wake up shakily
What was I thinking, I cry almost shrieking
I should not have stayed up all of that night
I regret the night and wish I could light
When the girls can no longer wear shorts
Or bras with too much supports
Because the men will try their luck
And yell rude words from their trucks
Once I might have thought of broccoli as trees,
Or never had to worry about hidden fees.
Once I might have laughed all day,
With one concern of what game to play.
Without a doubt,
Can I borrow a pencil?
Yes.
Can I "borrow" a sheet of paper?
Ok.
Can I see your homework?
Sure.
Day after day it was the same people who asked.
It was as if I was the only one with the supplies
This is just to say
I have hidden our secret from almost everyone
I am sorry
I can’t look you in the eye anymore
I can’t be near you without flinching
I guess it took time for me to see
Just how unlucky I can be
Once again, I'm becoming envious of you
I know this feeling isn't right
But sometimes alone, I can't win this fight
Everyday and every night
6:52, time to put on shoes.
With lunch boxes packed and backpacks slung,
Mom would send us out to school-
“Have a good day, I love you!”
A Sleepover Invitation
Where we planned to stay up all night
But the air was cold so we got in bed
I can remember wishing I had lighter skin
Ashamed that my melanin didn’t fit in
Her
Ivory skin
Tulip lips
Seafoam eyes stared at me
The thought of me not fitting
Neatly into their box
Sacres them for some reason
Not quite this, not fully that
I don't check off
All the things on the list
To call me one or the other
The Glow Up Scholarship Submission 2019
As I look back on my younger self,
Elementary school – I was something else.
The principal’s office, you could find me there,
Trying to explain, acting like I cared.
It be like that
You recognize you hear more than you see
That life is fraught with
He said she said
The grass beneath my fingers lilts
Too fragile to hold
Even as my sunshine tilts
Too big but not too old
The world is a bath of colors
Pressed against my breast
The pretty shades of others
I never noticed till now
how things had changed.
I never noticed that the things I took pride in
where ultimately nothing.
I never noticed when...
When I grew up.
growth: forced, quick, and sudden.
The first born; I am made to showcase
possibility,
hope,
and opportunity.
Where are the pleasant disruptions?
The ground shaking thumping of footsteps upstairs
The harsh noise of fighting cats
The rhythmic knocking on the door daily
Drown me
Until I can no longer breath
Pull me back out
A friend helping another
Just to push me back in
I am losing air
Take 1
Fighting, flying, fun, and frightening
Home was rough, and school was nothing.
Together as four was better than one.
To grow up with siblings means that I've won.
i cry more when i'm Happy than when i am Sad.
is that right?
Happy is pure, and raw, and exciting,
but when i am Sad i tend, too, to be Mad.
is that so?
maybe not Mad, but rather Defeated.
Trust is earned not given
It is a prize, not an obligation
But what it is to a girl who just wants to believe
Believe that everybody is pure
True, transparent
Like her
You are a queen
Deeply rooted in the knowledge of your ancestors
You are strong
And rightfully tasked to break the bonds of generational curses
But you are genetle
When I was a child I tried to live in a dome,
I couldn’t fathom the convoluted questions of life,
I placed myself inside a pretty pink bubble,
Where only happiness, peace, and butterflies live,
Every year through the mist and Mao-tai
the men rasp in hooded sinister tongues.
The lazy Susan slows, a reprimand.
Eyes lingering, quiet breaths still in lungs.
As a kid I could have been
Anything I wanted
It was all in my head
As I laid in my bed
One day I went to bed
No more dreams of benign an astronaut
No more dreams of walking the moon
Years have gone by like clock work and you’re still gone.
I keep going back to memories in my mind asking where it all went wrong.
Was it all those promises you made, now broken?
Young was I,
and through my eye,
I saw colors and delight.
As I grew,
I never knew,
how all things changed but sight.
Taller, I became,
and others I did blame,
I glow and grow when I learn new things
Like navigating new places
I learn to live and mingle making friends
And bonding with new friendly face
Everyone will pay attention to hip new trends
I was in first grade when
Before Christmas break
I lost one of my papers
That the whole class handed in
Except me
I was told I couldn’t leave
Until I found it
I went into panic
If there is something I hate,
It will be change
News are told
Knew it would come but not so soon
Go pale, wonder where the past years gone
Ones where no care was given
Head down in a book,
Hiding my braces,
Fearing they may look,
Always so abrasive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Head high like a rook,
Not afraid of their gazes,
Have them by the hook,
Growing up.
It filled my dreams since I was young.
Images of height, power, poise.
Growing up seemed so out of reach,
something that I wanted to obtain.
My life has been lived backwards,like a subsequent story of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I can’t quite remember a moment when I made the distinction between child and adult, in the same way I can’t recall my fourth birthday party.
I asked my mom why people could'nt get along
She told me the world was pain
For the birds and the bees won't respect each other
although they were told to love
For the skies and seas envied each other
Daddy’s girl, daddy’s girl.
That’s all I ever was, or at least wanted to be.
But do they not see.
We
Me and him ha, we don’t even speak.
I was abandoned and forgotten as quickly as I was conceived.
