Last Shot To Victory

 

My topic is police brutality. Police brutality is important for people to know about because it is a reoccurring thing. Especially now in the past five years ,teenagers and adults have been involved and died in incidents of police brutality. In my poem, I talk about Kalief Browder. Kalief Browder was a 16 year old boy who was arrested. I take on the persona of Kalief Browder.. This topic is something that connects with me because one day it could be on the other end of the news. I could be the one kid just like Kalief Browder convicted of a crime I didn’t commit and spend years in jail and being beaten and abused.

In my poem I used similes. I used as a comparison of my skin color so people can picture what my skin is.. I used repetition in my poem because I wanted people to get that police brutality is a thing that never stops and is continuous. Third, I used imagery in my poem. I used imagery because I wanted the reader to be able to picture the image I am trying to paint in my poem. Another poetic device I used was Rhythm. I used rhythm in my poem because it makes my poem have a flow when read. It tells me to have hand movements or not. I used persona in my poem . The whole poem is in the point of view of Kalief Browder. In my poem I didn’t use personification because it wouldn’t make sense with the topic I chose to write about. I didn't use assonance either, just because when I was writing, it wasn’t one of the devices I thought to use.I like Similes and repetition, they are simple and easy to use and can have a strong impact on a poem if used in the right way. I think that if I had more time to improve my poem, I would work trying to express the emotions and being more descriptive.

Delivery of my poem was serious and monotone. My voice from the video doesn't change, and I don't emphasize anything. The tone of my poem is serious and sad. My body language was nervous ;I was moving around and I looked down the whole time as well as I had my hand in my pocket , my facial expression was blank ; I had no emotion toward the poem. I didn't have any gestures at all. I think that my performance would have been better if I memorized it because I wouldn't be able to hide behind the paper. I didn't do any gestures at all that I added to my poem during the whole process. I think that my shyness just comes over me in a crowd of people to the point where I can't deliver. I had a lot of fun doing this project and I loved making my poem. I learned about police brutality. I learned about a lot of different political issues as well

Red, White and Blue
Their commitment to patriotism
“To serve and protect”
Protection is enforced with fists
Fists to the skull of those who are “guilty “
We Serve those with white collars and black ties
Aim for those with hoods in the night sky

Again,

Slithering closer and closer to my street
The men who “protect” us
Slam!
The Door to my room comes crashing down
Cold hands grab me
Tearing me from my sleep
I feel the sting of the baton, my goosebumps flinch
Sharp pain, flows through my body
Hard gravel, grinding on skin

Again,

Silver shackles, around my wrist tightening as I struggle
My mothers crying for me ,
“He didn’t do anything”
She repeats over and over
he didn’t do anything

Again,

My is skin deep like the color of coffee
Dark brown eyes, That entice you.
My face makes you think I can’t hurt a fly
I am Kalief Browder, I am 16 years old.

Again,

I plead guilty
No money for defense
the cold hands wrap there uncaring around my wrists
Silver cuffs meet

Again,

White walls all around me not a gleam of light exists
“ Protect all and serve all” written on the walls
3 years of depression and suicidal thoughts
Delayed and delayed by the “Justice System”
Systems that “protect” us

Again,

Home doesn’t feel the same when I return
I try to smile, the pain won’t go away
One day I just decide to let go, I wrap a noose around my neck
And jump
My mom and I meet again a year later
She died of a broken heart
A heart broken that would have been mended by my smile