Inspired by Nina Simone's "Feeling Good", Ogechi Egonu, Paige Bentum, and Ugochi Egonu (17, San Francisco) wrote and performed this untitled poem at a local Open Mic to document and preserve their initial reactions to the election.
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling
Scared
Your silence is louder than any of our protests could ever be
The eerie soundtrack to one of those black and white horror films
I know how this ends
I am a background character and we are not the ones who
“Will be fine no matter which candidate wins”
I am fading and afraid
I do not have the answers
I do not know what happens next
I am frozen in fear
And I'm feeling
Angry.
Mr president
You might have painted your skin orange,
But mine was red with rage as I watched
A country that never loved me show its true colors.
I woke up the morning after the election and I could feel my blood boiling,
FDT blasted from my roommates speaker.
see I'm usually a pacifist
But it took all my strength to unclench my fists
And turn this rage into art
I stared at the page in my journal that held last nights tears,
And found this morning's madness
A flood of words poured out onto the page like hot lava.
That day when I walked through those streets,
Poems in my pockets,
Heart dripping with anger,
I felt like I could destroy them.
Every step carried the weight
Of those that came before me,
And with this pen and paper
I documented the revolution.
And I'm feeling
Hopeful
As we march through these streets
A range of emotions run through our bodies
Fear
Anger
Hope
They fuel us.
This is what a patriot looks like
Black
Immigrant
Woman
And if we can feel this deeply
If we can be so moved with passion,
Then we can fix a broken nation.
Birds flying high
You know how I feel
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Reeds driftin' on by
You know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good
I'm feeling good