For those of you hwo enjoy a creative poem I would like to share with you
what I just recieved on mail. the moral to the story of the poem is don't
judge anyone by the way the talk, walk, or dress before knowing where they
are coming from
Miles to go before I slep.
DC
>>> You Don't Live On My Street
>>> (A Poem that represents how many of our Youth feel)
>>>
>>> --Rebera Elliott Foston M.D., MPH
>>>
>>> So you want to know
>>> Why I'm always high
>>> and why you never
>>> ever see me cry?
>>> why do I shoot up
>>> all this junk?
>>> Have you ever seen
>>> Your Dad sloppy drunk?
>>>
>>> Sure I would like
>>> to have more knowledge
>>> but my Dad drank up
>>> my money for college
>>> So, how can you look at me
>>> with such conceit
>>> When you don't even live
>>> on my street
>>>
>>> So you want to know
>>> why I ran away?
>>> Why in boarded up buildings
>>> I'm hiding each day?
>>> You want to know why
>>> I choose to steal
>>> and do what I have to
>>> just to get a meal?
>>>
>>> Well I don't worry any more
>>> about getting good grades
>>> all I worry about now
>>> is getting AIDS
>>> Look at you with your
>>> life so sweet
>>> but you don't live
>>> on my street
>>>
>>> You ask me why at fourteen
>>> I'm having this baby?
>>> Am I ignorant, retarded or
>>> just plain lazy?
>>> What on earth
>>> was I thinking about?
>>> I was hoping my Mama
>>> wouldn't put me out
>>>
>>> See your Mama's boyfriend
>>> ain't messing with you
>>> and putting his hands
>>> on your little sister too
>>> Naw, the seventh grade
>>> I didn't complete
>>> But, hey, you don' t live
>>> on my street
>>>
>>> So you want to know
>>> Why I dropped out of school?
>>> How many times can you
>>> be called a fool?
>>> Ever since first grade
>>> I been called slow
>>> So I wouldn't give the answer
>>> even if I did know
>>>
>>> An how was I supposed
>>> to concentrate
>>> When I can't remember
>>> the last time I ate
>>> Do you live everyday
>>> with defeat?
>>> Then you don't even live
>>> on my street
>>>
>>> You ask me why I
>>> stay with him
>>> when he beats my head
>>> again and again?
>>>
>>> You want to know why
>>> I don't get upset
>>> when makes each
>>> drunken idle threat?
>>>
>>> Well do you have rats
>>> running cross your head
>>> when you lay down
>>> in your broke-down bed?
>>> Do you have shoes to
>>> cover your feet?
>>> Then you don't live on my street
>>>
>>> You want to know why
>>> I'm not raising my chile?
>>> Well, you know
>>> I ain't worked in a while
>>> You want to know
>>> why I don't keep in touch?
>>> Is buying some Pampers
>>> asking too much?
>>>
>>> Can I start coming
>>> 'round the place
>>> I'm ashamed to let
>>> my chile see my face
>>> you s'posed to get out of the
>>> kitchen if you can't take the heat
>>> So, naw you don't live
>>> on my street
>>>
>>> You don't know
>>> a thing about me
>>> but there are some things
>>> that you must see
>>> Until you have walked
>>> in my shoes for a while
>>> and had a taste
>>> of my lifestyle
>>>
>>> Until you have lived
>>> in my house
>>> and given a name
>>> to each mouse
>>> Until you've seen
>>> your Mama get beat
>>> You don' t even live
>>> on my street
>>>
>>> Until you have walked
>>> my walk
>>> Until you have talked
>>> my talk
>>>
>>> Until you have knelt down
>>> on my knees
>>> Until you have eaten
>>> my government cheese
>>>
>>> Until you have smelled life through
>>> my nose
>>> Until you have worn
>>> my panty hose
>>>
>>> Until you have seen life through
>>> my eyes
>>> Until you have worn
>>> my dress size
>>>
>>> Until you have heard life through
>>> my ears
>>> Until you have cried some of
>>> my tears
>>>
>>> Until you have lived inside
>>> my head
>>> Until you have laid down in
>>> my bed
>>>
>>> Until you have read what's on
>>> my mind
>>> Until you have stood in
>>> my welfare line
>>>
>>> Until you have been called out of
>>> my name
>>> Until you have felt some of
>>> my shame
>>>
>>> Until you have sold some of
>>> my dope
>>> Until you have lost all of
>>> my hope
>>>
>>> Until you have stood under
>>> my rain
>>> Until you have felt some of
>>> my pain
>>>
>>> Until you have eaten
>>> what I've had to eat
>>> then understand this
>>> You don't live on my street!!!
>>
Deanna Corbett
Nittany Lioness, PSU
"You must first be perceived to be ignored."