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Jamecia Mayes Poem
My voice rings from wall to wall,
Attention class, it’s time for roll call.
Can’t you see
How important you are to me?
My goal was to teach,
Better yet to educate,
I know you’re almost gone,
But I pray to God it’s not too late
To show the way, the truth, the light,
Don’t give up,
It’s worth the fight.
See, I’ve been where you are
I totally understand,
Life can be so hard,
There are so many demands.
Sometimes you need to cry,
But you must be strong,
I may not always be right,
But I’d never lead you wrong.
I once was teen,
I wanted to give up the fight,
But I knew I deserved more
And others saw my light.
You think no one’s listening,
Yet, I hear you so clear
I pledge to make a difference in your life
By the end of the year
I don’t teach for the check,
I teach for you,
I’m not here for the vacations,
I spend my summers worried about you.
I go home at night
And say God protect my kids
The world can be so crazy,
On Monday’s I relieved he did.
If no one has ever said you can make it,
Well here it goes today,
You are strong and smart,
Don’t listen to what others say.
You are here for a reason,
What doesn’t kill you makes your stronger,
Good things will come your way,
Just wait a bit longer.
Sometimes I ask God if
Teaching is what he has for me,
But when I look at your faces,
There’s no place I’d rather be.
I’m used to a challenge,
I don’t quit-I will fight,
But the fight I have now,
Is to change someone’s life.
Copyright © Jamecia Mayes | Year Posted 2009
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Jamecia Mayes Poem
It took me a while to finally let these words ooze from my soul,
I still could not quite express how truly-deeply esteemed I was
To see him walk across that stage,
Take that oath,
Dance that dance,
And smile that smile,
Mr. President Barack Obama...
I replay in my head images of marches, sit-ins, stand-ups,
Beatings, hosings, lynchings, maulings, burnings,
Crosses, lunch counters, bus seats, bathrooms,
My God, my God, my God...
My grandma, and her mother, and her mother's mother,
Their struggles and pains
And finally I can say
President Obama.
I want to cry but the tears are so deep
in my soul,
All I can do is exhale and be moved to total and complete
silence...
Judged not by the color of his skin, buy by the content of his character...
Mr. President Obama.
And now the me I see says there is no reason to not overcome
a struggle,
And the you I see says you can make it through anything,
Life's rough sometimes,
But I'm tough sometimes...
And you proved that Mr. President Obama.
This country is now my country
This land is now my land,
The red, white and blue is for me and you
Mr. President Obama.
Take no pride if you vow to make no change,
Don't raise your fist,
Don't chant the name,
Our people worked so hard,
The time finally came,
Obammmaaaaa! Mr. President.
Copyright © Jamecia Mayes | Year Posted 2009
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Jamecia Mayes Poem
IT’S NOT ABOUT ME
Here I was all this time
Confused, wondering why they hated me,
Many of them barely knew me,
None of them truly knew me,
It even made me ask God,
Is there something wrong with me?
Ninety percent of them love me,
But the other ten percent despise me,
Then He made it so clear,
That their insecurities had nothing to do with me.
One day it hit me,
Like, like yes, Chrissette Michelle,
An epiphany.
Hit me so hard that here I am sitting on the side
of the road
To release it-
The words of my epiphany about me.
I thought it was me,
But finally I see,
It’s not all about me,
It’s about them and their insufficiencies,
Their lack of love and respect for themselves,
Their doubt regarding their self worth,
Their hate for their irrational decisions,
Their wishes that they could turn back the hands of time,
Their realization that they not as they wish they were,
So then they are angered with me.
Their fake confidence and petty gossips
Not because they hate me,
But because they have no love for themselves.
So finally I realize that it’s not me.
It’s them.
They see the beautiful, talented, young, educated,
motivated, blessed black sista doing her
THANG,
Pressing forward,
Not looking back,
Motivated for success,
Getting what she wants,
When she wants it,
How she wants it,
And they aspire to be like me.
Ain’t it shame!
That we claim to have come so far,
Without realizing envy holds us back.
I once heard a woman say,
If you want to take walk in my shoes,
You’d better be ready to fill some big boots,
And walk though manure before you reach the flower bed.
I have no hesitation to say,
I am a tough chick,
Because it wasn’t an easy road,
You have to be strong to make it,
I give thanks to my Source,
Because He could have chosen someone else.
But instead he chose me,
I don’t get mad at these sistas,
It’s a waste of my time and energy,
I just ask God to do for them what he’s done for me,
-Set them free.
Who I am is who I am.
I won’t change, won’t waiver,
won’t be mad if you don’t like,
Or like it so much that you hate me.
I’m not perfect,
But perfectly content with knowing God knows me,
And loves the me I am working to be.
Finally, I see,
They are angry because where they are is their ending,
But where I am is only my beginning.
And all this time,
I thought it was about me,
But it’s not all about me.
Copyright © Jamecia Mayes | Year Posted 2010
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