Poet Syd Stewart divides her time between Las Vegas and L.A., is active in the slam-poetry scene, and founded Better Youth, a group that inspires kids through art. Go here to listen to her interview with KNPR's "State of Nevada" show.
I sleep in hollow hallways
Where echoes of strangers breathe
Nobody listens to broken nightmares
Dreams slumber in urban classrooms
The voices of adolescents unheard
Blood colored streets
Our children write death certificates
Instead of learning Langston / they channel their inner gangster
Limp bodies turned inside out
Shattered from shell shock
Creating functioning illiterates / manufactured crime
Racism refuses to be sublime
Educational equality ain’t never been on time
Black brown child left behind
I labor in vain
Sometimes I can’t remember my name
Weary from storms weathered / the rainbow is enuf
Grasping for air while planting seeds
We search for reasons to keep reaching
Dangerous minds / raisins in the sun
Nobody here but us
Those who toil the soiled soil
We witness life burned to ashes
Dust to dust
Tomorrow’s impossibilities fill courtroom cages
We lose a politician, a lawyer, a nurse, a hairdresser, a mother
A father, a sister, a cousin, a niece
Piece by piece / frayed justice
Nobody here but us
Those who toil the soil
Alice done left wonderland / deuces for superman
Our anthems are operas at funerals
We sit quietly listening for familiar names
Knowing the silent suffering of saints
We press on pushing past body bags
Frost bitten fingertips / gravity grips
Weighs more than one set of shoulders can carry
Our dreams deferred / we wait / because they tarry
We sacrifice for sanity’s secret
We beat the system / everyday
Saving nothing for ourselves
Giving graciously to grief
The thief who we trust
Nobody here but us
Those with dirty fingernails
Digging deep into ditches
Breaking bread / serving meat on dirty dishes
Wishing for water in a well run dry
We keep trying
Shuffling our youth through pipelines
Prisons, penitentiaries and colleges
We keep trying
Untying knots in knowledge
Nobody here
Just us