Disappearing Act

A Poem

I am tired of seeing my talented students disappear
Disappearing into a blunt's haze
Disappearing through prison doors
Disappearing behind a stroller and diaper bag
Disappearing down a dark alley into a puddle of blood
They come to me
Faces shining with possibility
And they're gone
Faster than an unlocked Cadillac
On the corner of 103rd and Wilmington
They are eaten by the system
Rotating foster homes, juvie camp, gangs, and motherhood
Playing grown up before they've had a chance to be kids
Those minds so full of creativity
Closed by hunger, anger, poverty, and hopelessness
A generations of Paul Robesons and Diego Riveras
Lena Hornes and Frida Kahlos
Their dreams falling like rain on the hard black asphalt
Of these streets that vanish our youth like a conjuring trick
I am so tired of my talented students disappearing
Onto streets that turn them into day laborers, sidewalk vendors, criminals
That chew up their beautiful minds and fragile hearts
Make hamburger of their hopes and aspirations
So they give up before they even try
I wish I had a magician's box and a magic wand
Tap...tap...tap...abracadabra
I make my talented students reappears
I'd glue their feet to my classroom floor
Make them see themselves reflected in me
I'd capture their interest
Teach them to believe in themselves
Teach them something to keep them here
If only the streets...circumstances...life
Didn't turn my talented students into disappearing acts