Last year we stepped onto an elevator.
We politely asked the white lady behind us
If she could please take the next lift
To continue social distancing.
Her face flared up like a cross in the night.
Are you kidding me? she yelled,
Like we'd just declared
Elevators for us only
Or Yous must enter from the back
Or No yous or dogs allowed
Or We have the right to refuse
Humanity to anyone.
Our scars are the brightest parts of us.
We might not be fully sure of all that we are. & yet we have endured all that we were.
To love one another just may be the fight of our lives.
Poetry and language are often at the heartbeat of movements for change.
In this truth, in this faith, we trust.
For while we have our eyes on the future,
History has its eyes on us.
Change is made of choices, & choices are made of character.
Always remember that
What happened to us
Happened through us.
Please.
Do not ask us who we are.
The hardest part of grief
Is giving it a name.
What’s really funny about being National Youth Poet Laureate is that not everyone even knows it exists.
The oration of poetry, I consider to be its own art form and tradition.
The great responsibility I feel is to get people to put that power and that hope in themselves.
Poetry has never been the language of barriers, it’s always been the language of bridges.
I was writing since I can remember – I just didn’t know it was poetry yet, or that writing could be a career.
Do you have any suggestions on how to improve this page?
and then