Beginning this journey, I enter my room, the sun glowing through my window shades and illuminating the peony walls. I search for my journal, soon discovering a red spiral notebook, with my pen attached. To make sure it still worked, I scribble on the back of the notebook, finding it to be almost out of ink from all the writing it had done; but just enough left for me to continue. Finding a comfortable spot, I gently lay across my bed. And so I begin…
When no one else is around
I think of things I could never say
As lyrics run through my mind
Melodies lingering in my ears
I become the girl no one else can see
Someone who goes beyond stereotypes
Beyond image
She has a perfectly imperfect life
She is real, and so are her friends
The clothes she wears may not be designer
But she likes who she is:
Her personality
Her brown skin
Her life
Her smile
Yet
Tears stream down her face
As she dreams of a time, where she won’t have to hide
When acceptance won’t matter
When people won’t care
But they do
So there she stays, showing people what they want to see
Waiting to be recognized
Waiting to be me.
The waiting has come to an end. My poetry has allowed me to find my voice and let the world see Rachel Gibson; bright, unique, compassionate and with a perspective on the world that not many seventeen-year-olds have. This is a definition of me. I can think of this as a map to my being, a window to my soul, or a record of my life. No matter which point of view I choose, every poem I have written contains a little piece of me, living and breathing in each line.
My goal is to build understanding with my words. I am
looking to have an impact on issues of diversity which have shaped who I
am today. I want to help people…
Understand
See another's view
Learn something new
To understand is to see
Beyond what you can see
To know how I’m feeling
Look in my heart
Spiritual healing
Read between the lines and
Find what you seek
To understand is to see
See beyond me
Welcome to my world.