What I Carry
Location
Leigh Duncalf
February 15th, 2015
Power Poetry Slam Scholarship
What I Carry
I carry the crushing weight of Responsibility.
When the pets have no food and water,
When there is homework due tomorrow and not enough time to finish it all,
When I have to look after myself because I am the only person who cares enough to.
I carry pressure wielded oppressively by past generations.
Dictating that how I dress and act should fit a senseless stereotype that is around only to force inferiority upon me.
A pressure that suffocates my dreams with over and under education,
Millions of quarters retching out of my chest cavity to pay student debt,
A systematic universe where if I stray off the ‘chosen path’ I am regarded as
A Failure.
And,
On top of that,
I carry the theoretical equipment to pave the road to the future,
Because when we put our futures in the hands of others,
They’re just going to screw it up.