For our first project as action in our Counterculture class, which explores counterculture through punk and hip-hop music and our own poetry composition, we wrote Shout Out or Invocation poems. Originally, I was very intimidated by this assignment because I didn’t know if I would be any good at writing my own poetry and was nervous to present it to my classmates and teachers, but worked on it and ended up really happy with the entire process and the feedback I received.
CA Invocation/ Shout-out Poem from GCE on Vimeo.
i see you
this one is for the worriers
for the vegetable lovers
the overthinkers and the overcompensaters
and the people who are never over the moon
but under it
holding their breath,
waiting to be lifted up onto a ferris wheel
circling up to freedom in the stars
i see you
this is for the second graders biting their nails down to the skin
for the helicopter moms and the whats-going-on dads
for the band-aids on nervous knees and hair ties to hold back crazy manes
for the maybe next times
the one word text messages
and the gum on the bottom of your shoe
i see you
this is for the take out dinners
for the list makers and rule followers
for the people who hold up their worlds alone,
the broken buttercreams and the expired gym memberships
for the frequent delete key users
who can’t tap on those tiny keys to write their tiny truths
for the people who set fire to their diaries and rip out pages
because every word inked is true
for the pencils you will never get back
and words you wish you said
i see you
this is for the people desperate to stop worrying,
standing too close on the ledge,
staring deep into the fire
consumed by any force that will sweep them away
i see you
this one is for the girl with headphones in
the apprehensive swimmer
the triple knotter
and the kid who will not let his peas touch their macaroni and cheese
i see you
i see you
i see you