Jamel Mayo, Jr

I Am Poem

by Jamel Mayo, Jr.

Stanza 1. I am Jamel Mayo I wonder why things always have to be difficult. I hear a whole lot of lectures I see a laptop I want to do better in school I am Jamel Mayo

Stanza 2. I pretend that I will be successful I feel like I’m never good enough for myself I touch/scratch my head when I’m frustrated I worry when it’s too late to complete something I cry when things are too overwhelming I am Jamel Mayo

Stanza 3. I understand when people are speaking to close my mouth and listen I say things that a child my age isn’t supposed to say (Example) I say curse words like damn or sh*t and I know

I’m not really allowed to say those words because I’m not grown and I need to stay in a teenager’s place. I dream of being successful I try to do my best at making people proud but it’s hard I hope that things will get better for me and my grades I am Jamel Mayo

Where I Am From

by Jamel Mayo, Jr.

I am from Brooklyn, New York. I am from art and music.

I am from projects where there are not any happy endings. I am from the grass where it's hard to see things. The trees near my house whose long gone limbs I remember as if they were my own. I am from barbecues and mixed race from my mother and father.

I am from partying and sleeping and sometimes getting along. I am from being the man in the house and being told “to try is to fail” and “life gets harder when you grow up."

I am Barbados and Puerto Rico.

I am from a family portrait located on my living room wall.

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