"We once went to bed like between the bedsheets was a valley where dinosaurs still breathed."
Here Am I by Anis Mojgani
This man has enough amazing poems that each kid in this class could read a different one, and still come away awestruck. But from the very beginning of Here Am I, it stood out to me above the rest. I daresay that this poem feels even more naturally performed than Shake the dust. He breathes out the poem, instead of just reciting it.
Another huge reason I love this poem is because of how much I relate to it.
"Like that same high school kid, licking his thoughts, using his sharpie tip writing 'I was here. I was here, mutha f*cka. And aint none of y'all can write that in the spot that I just wrote it in'."
Those words changed the way I see things, the way I look at people. They made me understand how hard high school is, not just for me, but for everyone. And they aren't even the best lines in the poem.
The best lines, however, and the number one reasons I love this poem, are these: "...Did that beauty make you, did that beauty make me, will it make me something, will i be something, am i something? And the answer comes... already am, always was, and I still have time to be."
These are the closing lines of the poem. As the youtube video that I was watching this on ended, I continued staring at my screen, my eyes becoming unfocused, my mind refusing to restart. Those words shattered my misconceptions. Those words filled me with hope. Those words made me insanely, insanely jealous, because I am not Anis.
That clever sonofabitch.
Those words made me give up on ever being as good at writing as Anis Mojgani, but also made me want to get as close as I damn well could.
Got a long, long way to go.
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1 comments:
This is the problem with jealousy. Sometimes it makes us want to give up. We'll never be as (good, handsome, rich, talented, tall, whatever) the next guy, so why even try? But then other times it gives us the charge to keep trying, keep reaching to that level. I think you've captured both sides.
I freaking love this poem too. I've read it in class before (without the F-bombs, of course), but I just don't do it justice. Anis Mojgani performs it with such power. I like your description after you watched the YouTube video. I agree wholeheartedly.
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