What Is Life?

What is life
life is to live it
wise and enjoy it
if you have a dream
go for it
Mistakes are not all bad
because life goes on like
a beat of a drum
life will go by
faster than a blink
of an eye
then you're just dead

Day Dreaming...

Sitting in English class, the sun
shines bright through the window.
My thoughts and mind seem to fade
away. Wishing I was outside these
walls. All I see is bricks; yet I feel
there's no way out. I wake up happy
from a dream, yet I realize where I am
and my heart seems to fall apart.
I wish I was there maybe anywhere yet
I'm stuck in this little square. I see
why the caged bird sings. Same old
things every day, nuffin new, so I just
sit and pray. I day dream of a better
day and a path to find my way.
Feel so sad but I can't be mad, I found this
way so I here today. the time's a
ticking yet I see no clock.

When Death Comes

When death comes, I'll pay my dues
I will not be scared
Just let the blackness devour me
let a last image come to my eyes of
my family
not seeing them from above instead
I'll see them from under the
cold hard cement

Jazz

Teacher's Note: This is from an imaginative prompt we did listening to some Duke Ellington during the start of a unit on the Harlem Renaissance.

Jazz is to relax
listen and let your
imagination run wild
it sounds like they having
fun with life
dancing spinning
with lights around and
the rhythm all around you

Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic

I am from Virginia but my parents are from the Dominican Republic. While I was locked up, my dad took my brother to the Dominican Republic and I was mad because I could have went. I hear in the Dominican Republic that kids under 18 are allowed to smoke and drink because the cops don't care. Say if a cop saw a 12 year old smoking, the cop would just walk up to him and say, "Le me have one." Also, say if you have chickens and pigs in your backyard, and you want to make chicken, you just go in the backyard, grab a chicken by its neck and snap it. Then they cut off the head. And my brother says that there are wild dogs walking around everywhere. And they are not like dogs here, where a dog would run up to you and lick you. Over there if you get too close to a dog it would run away. In Costa Rica it's sort of like the Dominican Republic. Houses over in Costa Rica are better looking and cheaper than houses over there. You can buy a big house with a lot of acres for about $65, 000. Also if you want to hire a carpenter, it's really cheap. All the material goes into the house. Say the house was $100,000. You just pay him like $10,000 for the work. I am also mad because while I was in here I was going to go to Florida to see my cousins with my aunt but I couldn't because I was sent here. I am also from a place where there are drugs, alcohol and fighting. There is fighting every so often but drugs is like an every day thing. One time there was a huge fight in my neighborhood. There were these two different gangs fighting, there were guns being shot, people getting stabbed, people getting hit with bats and people just really getting their [butts] beat. Most of the people were sent to the hospital and the others were arrested. When I saw this big fight, I was surprised because I had just come out of my house and I wanted to know how it started. I remember this because it was a pretty big fight and also whenever I start to write, I start to remember things that I forgot a long time ago and then I just start to write what I remembered.

Reading in Jail

When I come to JDC every time I read lots and lots of books. I've read 12 chapter books in the last 2 weeks. That is a big step for me because when I am free I never read and if I do read, then I can't comprehend it. I can read it over and over and I just won't understand it. I do like that I read so easily and pronounce almost all of the words correctly without stuttering. I've always been able to read well and it's weird because I never remember practicing. It's like I was blessed to read by the grace of God. It's like a gift or a natural ability. The thing that I like most about books is when I'm in my cell I guess they make me forget that I am locked up all together.

Family

I've always wondered why my parents had to die the way they did, because I wanted them to live long enough that they'll see me graduated from middle school, high school, and my college graduation. I wanted them to be there so every time I do something wrong, they can correct me from doing that again. I wanted them to be here so I don't have to be in the situation I'm in now. And now I feel like I'm alone here in my family and like they're the ones to help me to be successful in life, and that's why I always think why my parents had to die the way they did.

Courage

Teacher's Note: This was in response to the prompt of Amelia Earhart's famous quote, "Courage is the price life exacts for granting peace."

I woke up this morning with this word--courage--in my heart. Everybody needs somebody who will be there, someone to wipe the tears and make you smile, and if you need someone who will not judge you when you fall, no matter what you have done, my courage will answer when you call. So after your friends have walked away and run out of words to say, after you tried everything else, then try courage. Even though others hurt you and sometimes call you names, your courage is unconditional. That means that it will never ever change. So after the wind has blown and done and you still won't turn blue and you are not sure about what to do, let courage come!

Where I'm Going

Where I'm from the only thing people know is lie, cheat and steal and kill.

Where I'm from my brother and sisters are scared to reach success.

Where I'm from people say you a man when you go to jail.

Where I'm from it's like us soldiers dieing in the Iraq field.

Where I'm from is called the ghetto.

But you know what? It really doesn't matter where I'm come from it's about where I am going.

Happy Birthday, Dad

Teacher's Note: This is from 10/0/2008. The author recently requested its addition to our blog.

Sorry, Dad. Happy 45th birthday. I'm sorry I'm in here. Wish I was there to say happy birthday. But I'm not. I hope you have a great one and sorry again.

Sirens and Jokes

Where I'm From...

Where I'm from you hear sirens at night
Where I'm from there is no life
Where I'm from your heart beats
when you scared where I'm from
I might just run where I'm from
you won't get saved where I'm from
you can say I'm brave.

Where I'm from
we sit on the porch and crack jokes
like its a sport
where I'm from.
We have fun at night
where I'm from the summer's bright
where I'm from you can't go wrong.
That is why were I'm from is like
a song.

I'm From Light

I'm from light.
I'm from pain.
I'm from love.
I'm from family.
I'm from Evil.
I'm from good.
I'm from dreams that never could.
I'm from doubters.
I'm from Haters.
I'm from Me who really made it.

Point Guard

If you knew me, you would know that I play point guard for Ballou Senior High School, and I also run for my school track team. I really don't like to be locked up cause I'm an outside person. The last thing I want to say is that I go home tomorrow on Feb. 7, and Ima live my life!

A Place I Call Home

Where I'm from is a place I call home. Where I'm from is where you become an adult at the age of eleven, where kids smoke and drink all day, and where at 13 most kids are facing murder charges. Where I'm from is a place that I wish to leave to become a better me ;where I'm from girls become pregnant at juvenile ages and kids give up on life while still in elementary. Where I'm from all the kids I know of have been to jail or to prison and mostly all the kids expect to go to a facility at an early age. Where I'm from no one takes any lip and everyone is shown respect and loyalty but where I'm from all kids wish to leave and become a better me and to leave the hell we live in. Where I'm from all kids wish they had the opportunity that most kids throw away. Where I'm from we all want to take our families to a better place, where everyone awakes to a brighter future and the district police don't bother us and no helicopters fly above.

The Blink of An Eye

Where I'm from...
Everybody has different opinions because what part they are from. Where I'm from anything can happen in a blink of an eye...here and gone. Where I'm from you grow up early because of what you see everyday. Where I'm from you learn to mind your own business because you could die for minding some else's. Where I'm from you see more people locked up than in church. Where I'm from it is a code you live by: Don't Rat, Don't Snitch, Don't Bend, Don't Fold.

Where I'm From

Where I'm from is so different from this country because in my country is like more freedom but is a lot of poor people and there are a lot of homeless on the streets and violence everywhere so that you can't take a walk in the night by your own neighborhood because they'd rob you of everything you have in your pocket and sometimes when they like your clothes, they take it from you, even the boxers, so they send you home naked, but the good thing about my country is the temperature is always warm and you can go to the beaches on everyday of the year. I like going to the beach because once you get there you are gonna see people playing "soccer beach" and you are gonna see some little stores, where they are selling seafood.

A Fresh Start

I go home in a couple of days. I'm off to a fresh start of life. I am turning 18 on Jan 30, the day I go home. I plan to get a job or maybe go off to college. Itz been a hard five years on probation; now I'm off when I get out. This was not meant for me to be in here. All cause what somebody say. I never thought I'd be falsely accused of something I did not do. It took 30 dayz of my life I can't get back. I miss my new year and everything. I guess things happen for a reason. I just maintain in here and hope not to see the Big House. My family misses me, my girl, and now they know I did not do anything. It sucks being in here. I'm a grown man now coming soon.