Mystic And Beyond

In the STEAM class called Rocket Science, we learned about the Space Race. We learned about how to design and do a mission into space. In this class, we went to the Museum of  Science and Industry. We got to look at the different space ships. We saw the Gemini and Apollo missions and even flying plans and carrying out missions for space on a fun game in the museum. For this Action Project , we were given 1 million dollar budget to make a rocket and launch the rocket. We had mini missions that prepared for the final project in the end. During class, I can never focus on my work because when I go home I can't get it all done for in one sitting. I just found out that if I can be alone in class I can do so much more work. This was a really fun experience and I would do it all over again.

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

For Kalief

The message of my poem is about Kalief  Browder, and how the justice system and prison system treated him. Kalief Browder was a 16 year old boy that got arrested for a crime he didn’t commit and spent three years prison. He was also beaten and put into solitary confinement for two of the years he was in prison. My poem begins by talking about the promises that the police swear by when they start as policemen. When I state the lines of “deception and protection are different words, brutality and self defense is the game”  In my poem I used the word “slithering” which is onomatopoeia this word is shown in the line “slithering closer and closer to my street are the men in blue. I used this word because it is a way to describe how the police try to sneak to his house to arrest Kalief. I use several similes in my poem for example I compared the way that the police come in his house to they way that the police entered the leader of the black panthers Home Fred Hampton. In the line “Busting down my door like I'm a black panther, Hampton”. I used the device of repetition by repeating the line again throughout my poem. I have metaphors in my poem I compare prison to hell in the line “Entering a place that must be worse than hell". I used imagery throughout my poem in the line “White walls all around me not a gleam of light exists here”. When performing my poem I used diction in certain words as well as pitch when I say the line again I get louder try to emphasize the word as well as when I start the poem. I said red ,white and blue in a soft an clear tone trying to show the importance of the colors. I Make eye contact throughout the poem. While making this poem, I discovered that It was very hard to talk about just one topic since there are so many that I wanted to discuss. I also know that as a person, I don't like to ask for help and me having to ask my teachers for feed back made it really difficult. I also would get confused when asking my two teachers because they each would say different things about the poem in the same line. One would think it was good the other wouldn't. I eventually would just try to please both of them by adding or taking away certain lines of my poem.


Flashes of Red, White and Blue
Their commitment to patriotism
“To serve and protect”
Deception and protection are different words
Brutality and self defense is the game
Power is our gain
Again,

Slithering closer and closer to my street are the men in blue
blue tears down my solitude
Busting down my door like im a black panther, Hampton

Again.
I am now bound to my fate
Silver shackles, shining like the moon a vibrant color of glowing white like it glows in the dark.
The cries of my mother vibrate through my body, not warning of the torture that will soon come.
My is skin deep like the color of coffee, It is deep like the roots of my ancestors that helped to build the world from the ground up.

Dark brown eyes, That entice you.
I have a face that will make you think I can’t hurt a fly
I am Kalief Browder, I am 16 years old.

Again,
I feel the sting of the whip, my goosebumps flinch
Sharp pain, it courses through my body
Making me feel the hard ground even more
battered and defeated
Prom and graduation is a fading dream, colors of blue and red lights

Again,

I plead guilty
Knowing I have no chance, no money for defense.
the cuffs are tight around my wrist
Entering a place that must be worse than hell
The cold metal bars against my skin

You make a decision
Guilty or not guilty
My decision was taken from me
The justice system failed me
The prison system stays the same
Full and accepting more
Justice system stays the same
Slow and never growing



Again,

White walls all around me not a gleam of light exists here
Central park is no longer apart of my memories
“ Protect all and serve all” in my nightmares
3 years of prolonged darkness echoes
Delayed and delayed by the “Justice System”
I received no justice
Justice didn't receive me

Again,

Home doesn’t feel the same when I return
I try to smile and bear it but end up wearing it the pain that won’t go away
One day I just decide to let go, the pain goes away as my name fades away
My mom joins me a year later
Happy to see me again

Again And Again

Mculloch Topher,"Never Again", Creative Commons (2016) 

Again,

Flashes of red, white and blue

A commitment of patriotism

“We protect all and serve all”

They enter my solitude

Busting down my train of thought just like the door

Again,

I am now Bound to my fait

Silver shackles, shining just like the moon

The cries of my mother vibrate my body

My skin deep like the color of coffee

Again,

I feel a hard stick, my goosebumps flinch

Vivid images of my dreams flash like the police lights

No one will see it but me

Again,

But no one cares

if you have a heart of gold

Or If you got a bright future ahead

But if you got threat written on your forehead

You are catch their attention

Again,

But bullets fly and people die

Children cry and car alarms amplify

Was it really worth it?

No

Again,

Here we go again another Mcdonald on the news

You tried to play hide and seek

Rage! is all that will come soon

We hope this will come to an end when the gavel meets its end

Again,

Thank you Trump for supporting the violence

He didn't even care about Charlotte

Now everyone's questioning Jamie Kelvin

Like he is to blame for killing the children

Try to help and you'll end up dead

Again,

HMM I wonder why

When the light shines in the sky

And the holiday lights sparkle

That people think that crime will die

Again and again

We end up in the pen

Again and again we see the end

Again and again i feel the pain and know it has my name

Written in cursive

The cold metal bars against my skin make my skin  crawl

The days of the water tower and friends has come to an end

I have ended up in the pen

Again,

My moms warmth is slowly dimming

My eyes are slowing closing

My age is adding up

My heart is drying up

I am old now

I am free now

Again,

I just wanted peace on earth

I wanted peace in my city

I wanted children to stop dying

I wanted ignorance to stop

I wanted acceptance for who I AM

Again and again

We want and want

What do we do?

How do we do it?

Can we do it?

Again,

We should be unified

I want to See the 47th street sign

I Know I have re-entered my solitude

I can dry my mom’s tears

Again,

We hear the sirens, we see the pain

And what is there to gain

In the end we are all the same

In the end we see violence

Violence is a second- rate

It shouldn't be celebrated on postcards

My poem is about violence. It was important to me to write about this topic because there is so much of it going on especially now that it is coming towards another holiday season there will be more crime on the news. My poem begins to talk about a child being arrested by the police at his/her  home. It later on talks about violence as well as police brutality and riots in general. For example in my poem I mention “They enter my solitude” This is talking about the police entering the house of he/she and taking them in custody.My poems moves on to speak about the thoughts of he/ she and what they think will happen to them and what is happening around them,“The cries of mom vibrate my body”  I talked about Laquan Mcdonald as well in my poem which is want I was referencing to in the line “Here we go another mcdonald on the news. I also talked about the article where people are questioning where Jamie Kelvin who is a journalist who found the information about Laquan Mcdonald got his sources, “Now everyone's questioning Jamie Kelvin”. As well as mentioning Jamie Kelvin I mentioned Donald Trump who is the president of the United States. I mentioned him in reference to Charlottesville because he took a long time to respond to the death of Heather Hyer in Charlottesville.“Thank you Trump for supporting the violence.He didn't even care about Charlotte”. I used similes in my poem for example I said “Silver shackles, shining just like the moon” I am comparing the shine of the handcuffs to the moonlight. “Vivid images of my dreams flash like the police lights”In this line am comparing my dreams flashing in my mind like the cars on the police car. “My skin deep like the color of “your” coffee in the morning” This line is comparing the shade of peoples coffee with my skintone, I said this because coffee can be a variety of shades so that this can be anyone basically. I used Rhythm in my poem when I said “again” as well as repetition or anaphora.