Arianna Crews

One Word Can Change It All.

by Arianna Crews

I am powerful and confident I wonder if I walk outside if it's going to be my last step. I hear my mother shouting for me to do the dishes. I see people worried to go outside because of the violence. I want the world to go back to normal. I am powerful and confident

I pretend like I don't care, but I do. I feel blessed every time I wake up in the morning, knowing

I made it past another day. I touch my mother’s heart every time I do well. I worry that it will soon be my last day with my grandmother. I cry because I get stressed out. I am powerful and confident

I understand I can't always have my way. I say I'm going to keep pushing, but I give up sometimes. I dream of a day without violence. I try not to eat all the food in the house. I hope I make it to college. I am powerful and confident

The Love Is Real.

by Arianna Crews

I am from the building where they are always blasting music. I am from an apartment that has the best cooking. I am from a home with many animals.

I'm from a family where it's a heap of stones. Remove one, and the structure will collapse. I'm from a family where they can be fudge but mostly sweet, with a few nuts. I'm from a family where they are as loud as a siren.

I'm from a place where it's like a puzzle, sometimes you don't have all the pieces together or sometimes it all fits together at the end. I'm from a place where it's like cooking, it can be all fun sometimes but the recipes might not go accordingly, you can mess up. I'm from a place where life is also like a banana. It starts out green and firm, but it gets mushy with age. It’s also a bit slippery from time to time, but everyone wants to stick together in the right bunch.

I'm from a place where my childhood was like a zoo but I was one of the animals. Always all over the place. I'm from a place where someone always has to be scared to come outside because of the violence. I'm from a place where kids have to grow up wearing masks because Covid. I’m from a place where it’s like a maze, you have to find your way through in order to survive. That’s life.

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