I’ve been in the darkness of which Audre Lorde speaks of. Although she sees it as a permanent darkness, I see it as dark phases. We all have dark moments, but we don’t all have dark phases. I’ve had plenty of dark phases growing up. Some inflicted by others, some by me. The darkness that we go through shapes who we are. It is not the happy and white moments that make us who we are. No, no, no! It is the frightening moments, the depressing moments, the difficult, impossible moments, which all come together to create a dark phase. How can we express ourselves during these dark phases? There’s many ways. Some people harm themselves till they can’t feel anymore. Some people blast music till they can’t think anymore. Then there’s poetry. I had forgotten how important poetry was in my life. It held me together. It was like my diary. The collection of my poems can possibly be the beginning part of my life novel since it expresses how I felt during certain times. There were moments where I escaped to an alternate reality, sort of like a dream. There were other moments where I looked my problems straight in the eyes and confronted them with words.
I used to create fiction with my poetry about how I wanted my world to be, as well as write about the violence that surrounded me. When I was in 8th grade, one of my poems won a city-wide contest. It was unexpected, but I was honored (even though it was Newark, NJ and I can’t say I expect much from the students there-sorry to anyone who’s from there). Here’s the poem (unedited- I haven’t touched it since) if anyone cares to read it:
Peer pressure causes the mind to twist,
Ignorance is bliss.
In a matter of seconds violence is amidst.
The beating heart of society bleeds
Every time violence plants its seeds.
The roots are spreading everywhere
While the raging claws cause a scare.
The violence makes me think,
How many lives have to shrink
In order for violence to stop?
I see it in my dreams, violence is not what it seems.
It’s hidden behind a mask making us believe that our task
Is to spread the hatred and evil to all of our people.
We must create a brand new task,
To uncover the mask of cruelty and evil
Violence causes to our people.
We must plant new seeds of what our society needs,
Which is love and unity for our communities.
We should accept each other as we are,
Tall, short, big or small.
Together we shall overcome what many people have shun,
Which is to stop violence dead in its tracks.
Violence truly lacks what we need to greatly succeed.
Then we shall have completed our task
To free ourselves from violence’s grasp.
Most of my childhood years were spent in either the Bronx or Newark. I was bullied and tormented by other students. Experiencing this and simply living in violence-infested neighborhoods inspired me to write a few poems about violence. I truly felt at the time, as I do now, that something must be done about this horrific violence. I wasn’t just speaking about the emotional and sometimes physical abuse inflicted on me, but violence that has poisoned our society. There isn’t a corner on this Earth that hasn’t been polluted by violence at some point, but can’t we change that? Can’t we attempt to erase the notion that violence is fun and thrilling to witness on the streets and to watch while we comfortably eat popcorn in a theatre?
This is what poetry is all about. It’s getting people to think about things that need to be explored. Audre Lorde is a perfect example of a poet who is seeking change in our society. “They surface in our dreams, and it is our dreams that point the way to freedom. Those dreams are made realizable through our poems that give us the strength and courage to see, to feel, to speak, and to dare.” Poetry is like a dream. Dreams may seem confusing sometimes, but they are really not. Just like dreams, poems hold a special meaning behind them. Dreams may be a way to wake us up from certain things happening in our lives. They can be warnings, stress-related, etc. But they hold a purpose. That purpose is for us to change whatever is bothering us so much that we end up dreaming about it. Just like poetry. Poetry is used to take that thought that has been pestering you and make it into a beautiful poem that can possibly change something or someone. It can be used to address those problems you are facing, which someone else is likely also facing. When someone else realizes you have those feelings too, there is a connection being established. There is a reason for that person who read your poem to actually take action now. They know someone else feels this way. When we address those problems, which afflict us so much that we dream about them, we are on our way to freedom. We will soon be freed from these problems.
Take MLK’s dream. He had a dream, which he turned into a speech. You may be thinking “what are you talking about, he didn’t mean dream as in he literary dreamt about it.” Oh, I’m sure he did. I’m sure he dreamt every night with the possibility that one day everyone would be together in peace. Although this has not truly happened yet because of the violence we inflict upon each other daily, his dream is still alive. There are still people, like me, who dream that this world will one day not be as cruel as it is. That people wouldn’t senselessly harm each other. Audre Lorde knew perfectly the power of dreams and our abilities to bring them to life through writing. Martin Luther King did exactly what she wanted. He took his dream, and expressed it in such a beautiful and powerful way, that there’s no way a single heart who hears his words will not feel the same as he.
