Eat spicy fried chicken
Because it will improve your taste buds
Dance like Zendaya
Because it will improve your strength
She dances like she’s free
And when I dance I’m free too

Laugh like little kids are tickling your feet
Laughing a lot will cause you to smile
My mom said smiling will make you look beautiful

Talk with honesty, if you don’t you’re letting people know you
don’t respect them
Look them in the eye and speak truth to them
Seriously listen, listen like you mean it,
So people know you don’t take them for granted
Be silent so you can clear your mind
I do that when I’m upset about not doing something right and my
mom yells at me for it
So I go breathe in my bed, after that I’m as calm as a koala
Being silent will help you deal with life
Life can be a hard game

First thing when you wake up, breathe to prepare yourself for
the day’s unknowns
Because it will help you through hard times
Like when my mom left home without telling my dad
I breathed through it
I knew she didn’t want to be a slave the rest of her life,
And wanted to keep us safe
I breathed through that

Enjoy the good times when they’re there
You never know when things will change

When you’ve had a bad day, you can always think about the time
when the whole neighborhood came to your first birthday party
And you were smiling big with your two front teeth.

This poem is published in The World in Me, a compilation of original poetry written by young people ages 8 – 17 who stayed with their families in housing at Solid Ground’s Broadview Emergency Shelter & Transitional Housing for women and children. The young authors who contributed to The World in Me are not identified by their real names, and some details have been changed to protect the privacy and confidentiality of them and their families. The authors retain copyrights on their individual works.