By Rosie DeSantis
Kofi & Lauren & Louie & me
(Aaron too),
we found the hatch up to the roof
during recess, said
today, now on,
everything gotta be different...
Detroit Seasons
By Jessica Reed
On the city's west side,
Summer scents of blackened charcoal watered my mouth in hunger for hot dogs perfectly grilled, burnt on top.
My stomach danced to Mr. Softy’s childish jukebox,
kids on my block hustled for $1 passports to ice cream dreams.
Nothing stung like the buzz of the ice cream truck
passing us up ‘cause our shouts were unheard, hands waving into fading hopes,
rising again
when the next truck came...
For the Love of MY City
By La'Shante “Shaunie” Grigsby
...I'll take the good, bad & the ugly
The cold nights under the fire
No lights but that didn't matter
It was the calm and the storm
The love from your child un-torn
It will forever remain the same
It is embedded into my soul that itches to learn of every story untold
Forever and always, I remain Detroit
Love: A Conversation
He said to me "why are you so beautiful"
I said "because you love me"
He looked at me and smiled
"Everyday I love you more and everyday you get more beautiful"
"You motivate me baby. I feel power in the love I get from you"
"You do the same for me my love." He gazed away
"Are you afraid" I asked
"Sometimes I think you're too good to be true"
"We all search for what we deserve, but seldom do we feel deserving when we receive it."
"Do you think we're soul mates" he quickly replied
"Sometimes I wonder how I lived without you. How I got through my darkest days without your love. But I think it was so I could make my way to you"
"How could we both possibly feel the same way?"
I wondered the same thing
"I don't know why I'm here with you but I know I'm supposed to"
He smiled and kissed my lips so sweetly.
Everytime we kissed it felt like the first time, but this time was different because I felt the future in his lips.
"You inspire me." I told him
"You keep me going" He told me
"I want this moment forever"
We shared the same stare at that point in time, and it felt like all of the dreams from my childhood. Pure like the destiny I knew I would one day hold. The love I never knew to be real was tangible and I had it in him.
"Do you think it will last forever?" He asked
"Why would you doubt something so great?"
He smiled at me and grabbed my hand.
We didn't utter another word. We sat there in silence. Beautiful silence. Our souls were speaking, sharing the emotions we held so deep in our hearts.
"I love you baby" He told me
"I love you too."
I'm Always In Love
I may be insane.
Driven wild by a smile
and a repeated chord,
accompanying a metaphor
like,
your love is a gallery,
curated perfectly
in the moonlit temple of me
or,
we are a myth,
some concocted event
that sparks war
and tragedy
and sin
with who? I haven’t a clue.
but I love and I love very still
An Impressive Loss
one, we embraced our freedoms
until creation
was engraved
into the foundation
of a millennium.
but now the richness,
this prevailing peace,
rests beneath grim Juniper tree;
and coincides with a subline miracle of silent
relief.
The Scene
you’re so out of your element, that you’re neck deep
in mine
you’re at my party,
drinking my drinks,
listening to my music and causing a scene.
you are ruining this for me.
so stay in your lane,
white girl.
you ain’t really “bout it” and “down”
you don’t really fuck with me,
I’m quiet and brown-
a “stunning” blend you can’t comprehend,
and one you think you won’t see again
cuz we all just some niggas, in a room, to you.
Thoughts of Two
my embered thoughts
with the final drops of resistance,
let the lonely shadow leak in
it echoes
in the half of me where my tame used to live
it settles and twitches, conjures misters and misses
out of Manchester moons and resonating blues,
crisis, clearance, and divine interference
no, no, I insist
sweep me deep beneath the undertow
where the mystic and listless accrue
because only when I am alone
do I think these thoughts of two
They Can't Hold Us Down
by Chani The Hippie
Oscar Grant was on his way home.
Mike Brown was in front of his home.
Aiyana Jones was in her home.
Why aren't we safe in our homes?
Sunshine
by Heaven Harrell
A woman, beautiful in every way but what happens when that beauty is taken away? Forced into the darkness, her smile, once as bright as a sun’s ray on a summer day, is dimmed, why? Is it because she dressed a certain way? Were her jeans too tight, did her dress fit her body just right? Does that justify what he did that night?
The Addicted
by Apryl Bantom
Man walking with sickness in his blood
talking to the wingless beings
no one sees but him.
Existing between worlds.
Agenda
by James Kaymore
I got a shortness of breath and a pain in my chest, my bodies growing cold, I see the reaper of death, there's no-one around and the only sound is me trying to catch a breath, with my hand scratching the ground... figured I was a nigga the moment I pulled the trigger, right after i took a swig of, a forty.....
White Noise
by Laura Gibson
You want these words as your own. But you can't have them. They belong on my lips and my tongue.
Untitled
by Laura Gibson
We were holding the night sky in our hands.
The stars that stuck to them like flies on wax paper gleamed through our fingertips.
Light Skinned Nigga Complex
by Chani Tha Hippie
Someone told me I have the “Light Skin Nigga Complex”
This need to over compensate my blackness.
I had to take a step back and laugh thought about their words and asked
My Crayon
by James Kaymore
In life I am like a child, with paper and a colored crayon.
Scribbling about my work of art, with no ideal, about its ending or start. I pick up what I can grab, and as I drag my crayon around, there is a purpose, but no direction to be found. Yet I listen for the sound, of approval.
I Look!
by James Kaymore
I look for discipline in my life, in my walk, in my talk - devoid of heartache and strife.
Diligently seeking peace, joyous thoughts, happy feelings, a place to release.
The love and kindness that has been building inside, til I have reached overflowing, and I can no longer hide.
These prosperous thoughts, uplifting emotions. Words combined with actions, my daily devotions.
Kindness, gentleness, kisses, and hugs, mixed together with love - a real magic potion.
Biracial Blues
by Chani the Hippie
It’s not my fault how I came into this world.
Why hate me because of the love I’ve come from?
Freedom
by the 2015 James & Grace Lee Boggs School Summer Interns
Freedom is to be liberated from all things. It is not only the complete emancipation from society’s standards, but also the recognition of one’s self worth...
The Art In Never Seeing You Again
Grief is a state of being.
It comes when it comes
and it leaves gradually.
