Age has taught me to flex straight bones backwards 
contort self into position 
sometimes body ache is necessary to movement, 
to escape the house that has been built around you 
the house that pierces you until blood drips from your ears, 
but the heater keeps you warm 
so you believe you are happy. 

I try to make people move from the wall, 
escape complacency, 
but all they can remember is the red. 
One wrong step, 
feel it soak into your clothes
can’t tell if you’re stabbing yourself 
or someone is stabbing you, anymore
But what difference does it make? 

Mom will still cry. 
God will still take you into his ocean. Silence will come eventually. 

Colleen Hamilton-Lecky

Gawk at the waves of my body
You are the sun, and I the ocean
Sink in the vastness of my arms.
I am here for you. 
I am here, just like you.
We are here, just like our grandmothers sang to us
but cornered in a place no one goes near.
Placed in a place with a name that has begun to ring gunshots in your ears.
I will dance with my body and crash mountains across these inner city streets.
Remind them of the force we can become.
Remind them that we are here.

Tehan Ketema

reality hides you from us
your spirit rising from the void
breaking from flesh
exploding death’s grip
we can’t see you dancing
only the wound speaks now
the looming threat of tomorrow
the weight of all this dread
we can’t hear your song
your melody of resilience
is quieted by the reverberating 
gun shot blast
that killed you
we can’t see that you refuse to die
that you are surging against us
even now
with a hopeful story to tell
after all, we are just boys
being raised by the ghosts of men
who were once our fathers

Isa Nakazawa

The above poetry excerpts are in dialogue with a short film titled “Until The Quiet Comes” produced by LA-based film collective What Matters Most. In a writing workshop held weekly at the Berkeley Public Library, we watched the short film twice before responding to three photographic stills taken from the film. We wrote for 7-9 minutes on each image with the challenge of embodying a character from each still (instead of simply describing the scene). These are 2 of the 9 responses that emerged from this exercise. For more information on these workshops, visit Youth Speaks!