Movin’: Teen Poets Take Voice edited by Dave Johnson

MovinWhat it is: The cream of the crop of teen-penned poems collected from the terrific New York Public Library and Poets House teen program, Poetry in the Branches. Editor Dave Johnson led poetry workshops where teens could write/read/share their poetic endeavors. Johnson picked these 36 pieces to represent all the good stuff he heard.

What it ain’t: Cheesy! This is sincere, from the heart poetry.

Who will like it: Wanna-be published, currently adolescent poets.

A Sample: Shoes/They’re my old men in rocking chairs,/spitting biographies into the sky./They’re gatherers of stories,/picking up the spit of kings,/the seats of beggars,/and the smell of babies/from crannies in the sidewalks/that glitter like a prostitute’s makeup/when the sun hits right./And the tales of the world,/in elegant calligraphy,/are written on their soles./–Ben Zeitlin

4 thoughts on “Movin’: Teen Poets Take Voice edited by Dave Johnson

  1. Can I wake up every morning knowing that you will never know how i felt and how i feel/can i live with myself knowing ill never be able to get over you/your touch, your voice, your comfort/will i ever be able to come to and just accept you as i get you/will i always want more/ we ,ade plams before but can i make myself overcome this, overcome you, and move on/i dont think things will ever be the same between us/ everyone can look at us and tell that everything we could be and everything we should be is everything we are/are you everything to me/no it cant be i must move on/when you say you could never love me again/did you mean it/can i accept it/i believed it/we were together but not forever because now we barely even have a relationship at all/but with that comes a new friendship, a new beginning for us to start over/a second chance/so can i/can i just accept what we have/yes i can!

  2. Do you think its ok to hurt me
    These scars will never go away
    Emotionally youre still going to be hard for me to forget
    When you look at me I get lost in your smile
    Thats not doing me any good
    Im only going to get sucked in and hurt again
    So since I cant forget about you
    No matter how hard it may be
    You take the first step for both of us and
    Forget about me

  3. I hate to say it but I think its true
    I pretty much have a hold on you
    When I see you in the day I cant look away
    When I think of you at night I only wanna hold you tight
    The only thing is you wont take your pick and its making me sick
    I cry every night because its her youre holding tight
    I feel like you dont care because youre never there
    If thats the case im not your second base
    Im not going to continue to hurt because you wanna be a jerk
    So tell me now stop trying to knock me down
    Its either me or her you cant have us both any more
    So as I sit here waiting for you to stop faking
    I wont take it anymore im bout to shut the door
    So go ahead leave me alone because now
    Im sitting here waiting for the right one

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