Lauryn Nesbitt's "Congo"

I'm about to start the second year of the John Carroll Young Writers Workshop, where we'll be working with high school writers, and came upon Lauryn Nesbitt's "Congo"--it will give me and my students some spark to widen our lens of concern.

Congo For those who have lost their lives during the ongoing genocide in the Congo, as well as the many lives lost in genocides all over the world. Your bloodshed shall and will not be in vain. We will find peace. As long as you wake up everyday you should have   no reason to complain, right i guess if i'm still breathing then i'm not really suffering Well if that's the case i'll give every other breath To the 6 million Congolese people who have died   fourteen out of my fifteen years of days i don't complain about Lived in fear their whole life only to die brutally and unjustly Because someone was following orders Being a law abiding citizen An unjust law is no law at all The next time i touch my screen i will say Madsi Pa Because someone died for this Not even given a proper burial Please do understand that a street corner or pot-holes in the road do not suffice as coffins Where is the tombstone 6 million beautiful African names all gone with the wind now Somewhere a little girl doesn't understand the meaning of You're named after your great great great grand-mother That the last time this name was written it was with an X Now with a signature she has been practicing since she was seven Quiet honestly i don't have to go through triangles or bloody current to see the redness in mother's eyes because she cried all night That monotone pitch her voice is now concealed in from screaming her child's name She didn't bother about putting makeup on today No queen collection can mask her wide-eyed ghost look See, i can close my eyes every night and act like it doesn't exist Turn my TV off right before the Yele infomercial Refuse to watch channel 5 because it's day twenty and there are sixteen bodies and counting Or hum to that sad music they play on the Food for America PSA i can even wish that i could give the little boy on that feed the children of Africa a tissue for his nose Missing the whole purpose of why i should call them and not my best friend because they're both asking me to spot them a twenty When you think about it Suffering is like god You may not always see it you may never see it but it is real and it's out there.               -Lauryn Nesbitt     Used by permission.      From Lauryn's chapbook, Disturbing the Piece, 2012.     Lauryn "Poetic Hyst" Nesbitt is a 17 year-old senior in the Literary Media and Communications department at Duke Ellington School for the Arts. She hopes to pursue a career in film production. She has bloomed into a powerful and inspiring slam poet, performing her work at venues such as the Kennedy Center Concert Hall and Millennium Stage, Busboys and Poets, Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia, Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York, her high school's graduation ceremony for the class of 2011, and the Atlas Theater. Lauryn is a two year member of the DC Youth Slam Team and she recently placed 2nd in the 2012 Larry Neal Writers' Competition teen category. When she's not pressing pen to paper she's your average teenager juggling homework, friends, and family.    Please feel free to forward Split This Rock Poem of theWeek widely. We just ask you to include all of theinformation in this email, including this request. Thanks! If you are interested in reading past poems of the week, feel free to visit the blog archive.     Split This Rock www.splitthisrock.org info@splitthisrock.org 202-787-5210

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