Student Work

From a SpeakTogether virtual workshop, Talent Unlimited High School, Spring 2020

This poem was composed during a six-week session conducted by author and spoken word artist Sheri Booker, who worked with a class of 10th-grade students to develop their voices. This workshop took place during a global pandemic, a national lockdown, and uprisings across the country to end police brutality and structural racism. Read more about the works in this collection, which are artifacts of this period and a true testament to the vision, creativity, and resilience of these students.

Listen to a recording of the following poem above. 

Life Today

by Leezum Regensburg

The sun shot laserbeams today
I hopped on the train home
I sat down and saw men staring
Up and down their eyes roam

I covered up myself with fear
As they started to drool
I got up and walked to move seats
So I just kept my cool

I thought “Why can’t people see me
For who I really am?”
Someone sweet, kind, funny, and smart
That’s how I should be judged

I just wanted to wash away
I’m going to melt
I longed to be invisible
Wish they knew how I felt

The train comes to a halt (screech) I stare
Ants invade my lunch
Just like the men invaded my space
I just wanted to punch

The approach was really off
It is bittersweet
Their mind wasn’t in the right place
I’m flattered but I’m beat

Keeping my thoughts tight in my mind
My head is overflown
Water has a cost just like thoughts
Covers are getting blown

People out in the streets begging
For freedom and justice
For both they have yet to receive
The pressure is on us

We need to deliver justice
To the voices that can’t speak
The leaves catch the wind to dance
As we all stand complete

People come together in harmony
Where people can sit and sing
Fighting for a fair play for them
As they gain their angel wings

Leezum Regensburg was a sophomore at Talented Unlimited High School in NYC at the time of this recording.