Tou SaiKo Lee, spoken word artist and member of the Hip Hop duo known as Delicious Venom, worked with the ITC poets in a series of workshops. Here is their work.
Generation after Generation by ITC and Tou SaiKo Lee a/k/a Delicious Venom
Generation after generation
we’ve been warned by the elders.
Lost in what is, who we are,
The melodic symbolic words
vibrate through us internally,
Verbally crushing our emotional senses
bursting to multiple tears,
felt from our own life years.
We call it: kwv txiaj.
Divine dimensions of eternal stories gripping the
piecing thorns throughout our times,
letting it drip down our fingers and splatter to
artistic puddles of
endless emotions on a cloth we
call: paj ntaub.
never had a country of our own,
no place to call home,
we come together for New Years and
soccer tournaments to create our own nation,
the passion we have for our families,
how we unite at times of devastation,
It’s sacred, you see the sacrifices that were made so
we could have a chance to make it,
so we could even exist,
the perseverance of our people through history
has to be a mystery.
Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park by ITC and Tou SaiKo Lee a/k/a Delicious Venom
Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park
We like to spark thoughts
Never caught by prejudice
We all get along in this
Sometimes ghetto, but not like Minneapolis
Not as many crimes,
Our women are fine, like a paradise
We make good rice,
And the people are nice like ice
We throw celebrations,
And invite kollaboration,
The Brooklyn nation is our creation,
And we are black, white, Latino, and Asian! Migration Invasion!
Breaking for Life by Chameng, age 16
Have you ever felt like you want cake
Cause all I want to do is break
With Nepin yo maybe even more
Gangster life, what’s that for
Breaking for life to the core
Hommie I ain’t got no skills
That’s why I gotta chill
All I want to hit is Airtrax, flare, windmill
I gotta know the basics first
All I want is for people to look up to me
Can’t you see. I got this icky stuff on my knee
Betrayal by Thien, age 15
Yeah this is the….
Hard times that we go through…
We investigate the times we
Had together, as one, we had
Fun, also things that we’ve done
Through this we gain fame for
Fortune. We forget the portion
From the friends that we meet,
Creating something more is a better misfortune,
Because of the things that have your feelings
For these, emotions, creating something
Like a backstab or betray, for my
Emotions I display, portray, you
Hurt yourself thinking that’s really nothing.
Making yourself feel superior to others,
Never knowing what they’ve been through.
Racism, Prejudice, Hate
Ya’ll talking smack like you bettah than others
But ya’ll aren’t nothing, having no lover
Making others feel bad for your own
Superiority feeling insecure even a minority
Friendship by Christian, age 13
Friendship ending very quick,
The thought of it all makes me sick.
Side comments are thoughtlessly made,
The bond between them slowly fade.
You can feel the hatred in the air,
They’re pulling each other’s hair.
They walk away with heads tilted in shame,
Knowing their friendship is not the same.
They want it to stop, they want it to end,
They want to believe it’s just pretend.
But it’s not just pretend,
It’s not going to end.
No matter how many sleepless nights they spend,
Lying awake no matter the hour,
thinking their friendship was just like a tower.
Built up so high,
Then it falls from the sky.
It crashes to the ground,
Not making a sound.
Just sitting there lifeless.
I refuse to let my friendship turn out like that.
Pho by Peter, age 14
Pho, spicey with meatballs and beef
Oyster sauce
Hot sauce
How much does it cost?
Damn, five bucks?
What a big loss!
Gettin it from my mom,
May be better
You wanna know why?
Cause it’s 5 bucks cheaper,
and I just get it at home
eatin’ it while I’m on the phone
Pedaling My Bike by Wandee
As I pedal through the woods,
I lose every stress I could
That I had brought with me on the way
Getting on the way home, I try to delay
What I came away from.
The wind rushes through my soul
As cold as the winters acid snow
Clearing my head of anger and pain,
But some stays there forever like a stain.
What I can never get away from.
But as I petal and petal on the walkway,
I decided to let myself go the way
That my heart decides.
As my bike away, I ride, back to the way which I came from.
Hmong by Yer, age 15
As I walk in the street
With the struggles I contain
All I feel is endless pain
Cus, it’s getting me insane
As I’m sittin’ in the rain
I ask myself why?
Why I live a lie?
Why people die?
So I represent a11 for us Hmong Vang,
Hmong Yang, Hmong Lee, Hmong Thao,
Hmong Cha, Hmong Khang, Hmong Vue,
Hmong Her, Hmong Chue, Hmong Lor,
Hmong Fang, Hmong Cheng, Hmong Kue,
Hmong Pha, Hmong Kong, Hmong Hang,
Hmong Moua, Hmong Chang.
A Memory by Melanie
I am from a memory. A memory filled with childhood games. I used to play
chicken fight with my brothers, sister, and cousins. This game reminds me of all the fun I used to have.
I am from a memory. A Memory that takes place in my childhood at the zoo. In the zoo, I remember seeing Sparky the seal who did many tricks.
I am from a memory. A memory that has pictures. Pictures showing my smile. Pictures showing that I enjoy my life.
I am from a memory. A memory of movies. Movies that show me laughing and doing stupid things. A memory of me in the past.
A Lover's Lyfe (the Eternal Cycle) by Kan Bao
A lover lyfe is never easy,
There’s so much stress and so much pain. Barely anytime to think with all the drama around, all them lies all around can be persuasive, but you have to stay strong, and don’t ever give up. All your hard work will go down the drain, all your good deeds will go down in shame. So stay smart and stay in school. Always be prepared for all them predators in lyfe. Those teachers just want what’s best for you. Always remember that regrets are made and mistakes are forgiven. Don’t be afraid to take risks, because you don’t really want to lied at home wondering what you could’ve done. Make your own path down follow someone else’s. They’re not you and you’ll be taking credit for what someone has already done. Rely on yourself to make the right choices in lyfe. You see all them gangsters and hustlers, they all cool but really they’re not. They’re struggling to survive and only have the education of a first grader. You don’t want to end up like them, they can’t go home, they beating people up for the money they have. Most gangs are all on crack and you don’t need that, just stay positive and ignore those negative influences, and live your lyfe to the fullest, then one day you’re crazy in love, remember to think before act, cause you don’t need to have a child yet. But if that love dies don’t act like the world is ending. You still got tyme and you still got friends, lyfe wasn’t made to be perfect. But always get back up and pick up those broken pieces of your heart and move on in lyfe. Once you move on you’ll learn from your mistake and you’ll understand that love is lyfe. A lyfe without love is like your living in total darkness, with no way to get out and no light at the end of the tunnel, some say love isn’t meant to be, but love is pain, love is pride, and love is lyfe. As you live your lyfe you’ll go trough plenty of break-ups, don’t let that stop you. Soon you’ll find yourself truly in love, then comes your wedding and you’ll have your very own kids.
You hard work and sufferings came to an end then….
You’ll rap this very poem to the next generation of lyfe.
A lover lyfe is never easy.
ABOUT THE POEMS
