“Entitlement”

Group home kid
trying to figure it out—
how to get by,
how to become a grown up
who she can respect
because she sure has met some
whom she can’t

She asks questions,
She advocates.
Group home kid is told
“You have an entitlement complex.’ 
She objects.

She is no object.
She is Subject
To herself, her life
Her plentitude (Freire, 1970/2000).

Sometimes she wrestles
with herself,
her hopes, 
her dreams, 
her fears 
The Rules, 
the lies
the walls, 
the barriers.

She cannot count on someone to rescue her.
Nobody can do it for her. However, 
somebody can meet her in “comradeship” —
not fighting for her, 
but with her.
Her story is
“Minha vida. Minha luta” (Freire, 1970/2000)

To become fully human
is to risk an act of love.

NaPoWriMon – Day 11

For Rachel

 

Beginning on the floor in child’s pose,

You curl up, comforting,

Before confronting

The barriers to your liberty.

 

Climbing to table pose,

Sitting back up to

Stir up the setbacks;

You brace yourself.

 

Transitioning to warrior pose,

Arms stretched wide

To knock on opportunity’s designer door,

Recently painted persimmon.

 

Rising up to mountaIn pose,

You stretch, leaving fingers lingering

To get a feeling of the glass ceiling

That once covered your hope.

 

Breathing in, ribcage expanding,

Reminding you of your strength.

As you exhale, a long breath of epiphany

Makes you realize that you were

 

never

in a box

to begin with.