Hello

Nice to meet you

Your hand feels cold in mine as I shake it.

Your eyes telling me that you’re surprised of how early I have arrived to speak with you.

Wrinkles all crinkled around your sharp face.

I can barely see the freckles, that were once speckled across your cheeks

Created when you used to spend all your summer weeks soaking up the sun

like I do now.

My name is the youth.

The future

The change

The one’s that will be taking your seat,

even though you’ve clearly made yourself

very comfortable.

In Your throne of power. Your chair of leadership.

the gold painted  armrests,

now a little rusted

The paint flaking from your trembling grip,

trying to hold on with the tips of your fingers

making sure you don’t fall off

Just like the generation before your own,

But it’s bound to happen

You see, I didn’t want to take

your thrown of power

Your chair of leadership

But my voice is being ignored

Those big ears of yours that you claim you have, seem to be shut

Only able to let in what you want to hear.

Oblivious to what the world is trying to tell you

What I am trying to tell you

I am damn sure you cannot listen to the words of the future

When you are dwelling in the past

stuck there

While I am here

Here in the present, counting down the minutes until the future greets us

Here

Right in front of your face

because you told me you didn’t know how to work skype

You are reaching an age and like an old dog,

You showed me that you can’t learn any new tricks.

You say

“you don’t know anything, you don’t understand me, nor my choices”

Really?

My educated eyes have read more books about you then I can count with my fingers and toes

and eyelashes

and freckles.

You’re past your prime

It’s now my time

You need to let go

Just like the generation before your own

did for you

This world is spinning round and round

Faster and faster everyday

your hands just aren’t big enough to hold it inside your palms anymore

to protect it from everything you fear will hurt it

things like me

As hard as you may try

As loud as you may cry

I will find a way

To make change

To evolve

To be heard

Now don’t you turn away from me and cover your ears

Like the past generations have done to you

you clench your jaw and shake your head in disbelief

just as expected

because From my textbooks

apparently now is my cue to give up

Let you win

Let you stay and nuzzle deeper into your warm seat

and lock the doors behind me as I leave

But guess what

I picked that lock once

and I can do it again

my voice is getting louder

louder than yours has ever been

Echoing in the winds

Bouncing off the mountains

Reaching

every

last

eardrum

you may try to push me away

try to stop me

blame my “ignorance” on my use of my phone

you say

“your fingers should stop tapping the screens”

when they are only linking me to others

letting me connect with not only Wi-Fi, but with

likeminded youth

our minds, our thoughts all stand against yours

But then again

You do have other tricks shoved up both sleeves

Probably learned from past generations, I’m guessing

your cold hands may try to glue my mouth closed

muffling my words

Trapping

Choking

suffocating my ideas

But have you seen who stands behind me?

I represent the 1.8 billion young’ins that want change.

That want it now

Try silencing them

But then again

we have said more in 6 minutes and 20 seconds of silence

Than all your years of fighting violence with violence

“Fist with fist”

“Pistol with pistol”

Brother against brother

But I guess, we believe in fighting too

Our eyes glow as we march down the streets

But rather than with fists against fists

It’s our Hands intertwined with hands

You say

“your minds have no idea what your mouths are screaming”

“Of course my ears are shut to uneducated 16 year olds”

but when Your world starts to crumble under your feet.

my new throne will be sprouting out of the concrete

that you laid over the once lush grass

it will be entangled with beautiful emerald green vines

White roses blooming from the armrests

There will be Enough room for everyone’s knowledge, beliefs and voices

Unlike you, we will listen

Unlike yours, our hands will be warm

Welcoming any handshakes brave enough to open our doors

Our time will come

Just as yours comes to it’s end

Because We are sick of sitting in silence

Sick of letting others choose our future

Our lives.

Sick of watching others just like us

Painted with different colored skins, suffer

Sick of being demeaned, dehumanized

And Let me just remind you

Who will be the ones here in 30, 20, 10 years

Oh yeah, that’s right

Not you

We are sick of holding umbrellas under storms that could be prevented

Sick of being declared mute as soon as we can speak loud enough to be heard

Sick of being told what to do

And Who to be

pause

Your Time is up

Please Leave the door open behind you.

Reflection:

I really liked how I used different tones of my voice to express my feelings during my presentation. I also liked how I used a lot of imagery and metaphors in the poem, making it more pleasing to the ear. I could improve on memorization and also more facial expressions that reflect what I am saying.