Poetry at The Drake House

Last Monday, the youth at The Drake House created their own personal adaptations to the poem below, "Survival is Not". They highlighted the lines that meant the most to them and ended up with a phenomenal group piece.

Right after that, they created their own group piece before performing "Survival is Not" for their parents! You can catch their original poem at the end of this post. Don't forget to check out the blog of one of "Survival is Not""s co-authors, Alexis at brokenbeautiful.wordpress.com.

"Survival is Not"

Survival is not the death of me.

Survival is not the death of you.

And I wish people would stop making it so complicated.

Love is not an academic skill.

Listening is not an academic skill.

Liberation is not an academic skill.

Compassion is not an academic skill.

Care is not an academic skill.

Comradeship is not an academic skill.

Courage is not an academic skill.

Mindfulness is not an academic skill.

Humility is not an academic skill.

Self-correction is not an academic skill.

Feminism is not an academic skill.

Speaking truth to power is not an academic skill.

Visibility is not an academic skill.

Affirming the beauty of others is not an academic skill.

Honoring one another and our visions are not academic skills.

Ethics are not academic skills.

Trust is not an academic skill.

Trusting intuitive power and hope are not academic skills.

Nurturing spirit is not an academic skill.

Being human is not an academic skill.

Being yourself is not an academic skill.

Creating family is not an academic skill.

What our grandmothers taught us

and what we learn through the body are not academic skills.

Dancing is not an academic skill.

Making love is not an academic skill.

Snap.

Survival is not an optional skill.

Survival is not a game for pay.

Survival is not the illusion of safety.

Survival is not thinking we need to fit into boxes.

Survival is not becoming who you need me to be.

Survival is not holding our breath.

Survival is not made possible by overriding our bodies.

Survival is not possible without rest.

Survival is not scary when we know what we are living for.

Community is everything.

The Drake House's youth's original poem:

"Untitled"

Together we all reunite as one family.
To feel the warmth of someone's love touch your soul.
Beauty is within all of us.
Family is power
Power is strength
Strength is purpose
What we go through may be smooth or rough--
Yet through everything--
We hang tough.
A highway of different faces
A highway of old faces
and still the old ones are always there.