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2005-2006 Shelter Program Poetry

Before We Got Here

Before we got here I was dumb and in love––
Before we got here life was easy,
I depended on others, promises were made.
Before we got here I was scared of being on my own––not no more.
Before I got here I never wanted to be lonely.
Do you want to be lonely now?
Before we got here I was unhappy in my relationship, I was lost.
Before we got here there were so many people in my business,
people in my face.
Before we got here goals were in reach, our bedrooms were bigger.
Before we got here I didn’t take life so seriously, not til
I started living on my own.
Before we got here I didn’t know there were people in my situation,
I didn’t take public transportation,
I was less focused,
I lived in a fairytale, everything was just put on a platter.
Before we got here I had a comfortable bed, a queen-sized bed.
Before we got here what I thought was gold was gold-plate.

                 –– Group Poem: Tamika, Chaundoria, Indira, Ericka, Latiesha, Tara, Michalyn

Used To Be An Open Door

I used to be an open door
but now am closed and no one has the key.

I used to look out the window
but now I put the shade down.

I used to be on an open road going nowhere
but now am parked.

I used to long for a mother
but now am a mother.

I used to be in love with a man
but now am in love with life.

I used to wear my heart on my sleeve
but now it is in a box behind a wall.

I used to look in the mirror and ask why
but now I see my little girl’s eyes and now I know why.

                     ––April

The Top Floor In My Life

In high school I was like a low ﬁre. All you had to do was turn me up. I would walk in the street and I had a lot of haters. Now that
I have a daughter you will have to do more work. You will have to throw stones at my window to get me all ﬁred up and when I say window I mean McKayla. She is the top ﬂoor in my life.

                    ––Keziah

Time Used to Move So Slowly

Time used to move so slowly. Now it goes so fast it’s like I have no time to do anything. I feel like there’s a big hammer bangin’ over my every thought. I feel like I’m running down an alley of unfulﬁlled thoughts.

Time is like a wire wrapped around my neck cuttin’ off all air, stranglin’ the crap out of me. I just wish it was easy. I wish time could be soothing, moving softly like a cloud in the sky.

                     ––Cristie

On Fire

I used to feel like a curtain, so plain and lonely, but now I’m on ﬁre just trying to make my moves to a positive place and keep me and my kids happy.

I used to feel like a bucket was over my head and someone was
kicking me around but now I’m a bird and I just ﬂy into my sky...

                     ––Lindsey

Time Is

Time is the opening and
shutting of the door.
I could slam the door 100x’s
in a minute and in the blink of an
eye a half hour goes by.
Time is salt to my hurts.
The sky is beautiful, I can
look at it all day.

                   ––Alexis

My Blessing

My pregnancy wasn’t planned but what a wonderful gift when
he came. I was 4 months pregnant when I found out I was
carrying my baby. I was scared, happy, sad, and afraid. Without him I couldn’t breathe. Now everything I do in my life isn’t just for me. My mind and body have changed a lot, with noticeable stretch marks and extra pounds I wasn’t carrying before. His father always tells me to just look at him as a gift and my body as the wrapping paper he came out of. Without him things wouldn’t be clear. The hugs that he gives just make me feel loved.

                ––Chaundoria

The World Started Spinning

I walked into her room
and she said congratulations.
I was four months. I told her
to take the test again and again.
She said that’s it, you know
that you are pregnant, be happy
for 1 minute. I didn’t think of
no one and told myself I am
having a baby. Then I thought,
how was I going to tell my mother?

I went to my friend’s house on the 4th ﬂoor and told her, “Chillie,
guess what.” She said, “What?” I told her I was four months. She hugged me and said “don’t worry, I know you could do this, you will be a good mom, even though you’re young.”

For 1 minute I didn’t think
of no one and told myself
I am having a baby! The world started spinning––
going around really fast.

                  ––Ericka