Figurative language tells a story that the average ear would not understand, and poetry resonates within us more than ever before. In the beginning stages of most children’s learning, one of the prime ways we were taught to read was through poetry. I can’t speak for all, but I know for a fact that Dr. Seus showed me the ways words can resonate with one.
As I have gotten older, I started to see the many ways society utilizes artistic expression. Not only can this writing reflect academics, but it also mirrors a monument of messages. Artists across the city, known and hidden, have been turning life lessons into lyrics. Today, take some time to unwind and to learn from a different lens, life stories from true gems.
There are a few poets who have been sharing their gift with us. The first poet goes by ChefTheFloet, an amazing writer from the DMV. He’s been rocking open mics for over two years, and truly has a way with words. His aura and perspective is very vibrant, not only to crowds, but to many eyes who have read his work.
The next poet is Dustin Pettis, a Sophomore communications major with a love for music and lyrics. He “just started” writing his poetry, making other rookies look like chopped garbage. His wordplay flows through the stanzas, with hints of imagery that’ll guide your mind through his work.
The last poet is Kyla “Ms. Mamas” Turner, a Senior strategic communications major who is seeking a career in writing for entertainment. She started writing as a child, and decided to start sharing her work as a performer in high school. She is an award-winning poet who has performed in many states such as Tennessee, the DMV, and Michigan. Her words have reached the ears of many, and the hearts of others.
Untitled
By: ChefTheFloet
Mother Nature and Father Time work together when they’re intertwined
Yet,
I can’t deny that I only exist as the seed to cause them a divide;
So I sit and comprehend each grain of sand in the hourglass
As they tell the stories of my past.
And today with the future I hid him behind the mask of my true identity;
So my self conviction is what opened the gates of insecurities, and secured you in the arms of my adversity.
What’s left that resides in my mind?
Is the portrait of your memories.
M.E.
By: Dustin Pettis
The dualities of me
Incoming conversation between a and b
Seeing right through my mask
That I’ve created
Though I guess it’s translucent
I feel like at these times there are two of me
Brain these days is split between I and me
I scream at you
And whisper back at me
I feel a disconnect
In the soul and the mind
But I don’t mind you peering in
I need you to stop me from diving
I fear
Because to me tears are the evidence
Of the water that is broken in the mind
Shoulders only strong
‘Cause since birth
I’ve been up tight-rope walking
On egg shells just to be okay
The way I know I’m not at peace
Is because there are days
I’m focused on being celebrated
And other days I feel tolerated
And yet nobody’s told me there’s a problem
But me
Flying through time with this cuckoo clock
If I die for my hopes
And I really hit the floor
And I make back to land
Will it show you that I’m shore
Is it that there being four of us that
Mutated my thoughts
I hatched up this plan
Thinking I could more
Became a shell of myself
I must be board
I got a 9 and two 8s
Playing games
Cause my brain and my heart in an all out war
I ask my artist for assistance
In painting my whole
I’m dialed in so setting the tone
Clean to the point
My words putting chills in my bones
I’m so smart that i know I need to
Oxy clean away
My demons for they be the reasons
For these moronic decisions
Gamble my life with a paradise
The Naked Eye
By: Kyla “Ms. Mamas” Turner
You thought you saw her naked, because she took her clothes off
Skin glistens like reflections of ribbons
The scars camouflaged the hidden stories
Of what existed before her glory
You saw a body, not a temple
You thought you saw him naked, because he took his clothes off
Raw, un cut, toned to the core
His tone covered his sores
Sexually the worlds galore
You too saw a body, not a temple
Our historical figures’ figure in Social Studies books
Backs slashed with daydreams to be free
Ankles bruised from the shackles, now known as bracelets branded in bravery
Where chains, past and present, joined hands with popular demand, weighing generational Curses on our turtlenecks
Such pretty pain
Tears that hydrated the nurturers who aren’t nurtured
What we’ve seen is nakedness without Security in vulnerability
Strong, a verb tattooed in our shadows
What lies beneath the surface of our people
Is n entity opposite of evil
Angels with pigment
Brown Blessings
Neglecting us for our color
Is like judging a book by it’s cover
Or watching Sesame Street, not realizing elmo is black
Never second guess what dwells in the flesh
Of the royalty sitting next to you
On your left and your right is euphoria in a shell
I’m sure they purposefully washed upon your shore
With diamonds that an average man would call sand
Our value fell through our nation’s hands
But please understand, you are loved
Like relations
Like middle schoolers and Frooties
Like Unc And his double cup
Like Sunday mornings And Granny’s prayers
Like neo-soul holding hands with jazz
Like hip-hop hugging poetry
Like ATL, Martin, Brown Sugar, And Living Single
Like black people’s ability to legally be married
Like bronze brains having the nerve to learn
You are loved regardless of the Karen’s And Kevin’s who care to stare
And see what’s purposefully shown
See what they hate
See what they pay to look like
To see me
To see you
See us, for what’s on the outside without an inch of what’s within
Abstract art in the current day
Is what they see when they saw you with no clothes on