Poem Analysis Final Draft

Jonathan Velasquez 
IB Lit & Performance
Ms. Guarino 
Due: October 14, 2019

We Stand Above the Line

The first time I listened to "Trauma" my eyes were opened to another perspective of life. It made me understand reality, but the kind of reality that makes you angry, confused, and most of all, sad. The way the poet, Meek Mills, presented this beautiful work of art, was quite impressive. He gave me a sense of motivation. This poem shows all the struggles a black man goes through in life in America, however, he also encourages the reader to never back down, to rise above the line and exceed dreams.
 The struggles an African American male goes through in life are very tragic. The poet talks about the injustice that he faces in life. There's a line in the poem that says, " They shot that boy 20 times when they could've told him just freeze

Could've put him in a cop car, but they let him just bleed." This is a perfect example of how Black men as a whole go through injustice. They have to live in fear all the time. Fear that they don't even know if they will be able to see their family at the end of the night because walking up and down the streets in their neighborhood, is risking your life. They also don't get anything easy. From the system to school, to even job opportunities. It's tough because we get stereotyped because of some of our brothers and sisters go through the wrong path, however, everyone does. This is a reality, but we just want to be treated equally. The poet talks about that in "Trauma". They have to strive more than anybody when it comes to anything in life.

Towards the end of the poem, Meek Mills gave me a sense of motivation. That he will never back down to injustice. That whatever happens, he will overcome every obstacle that comes his way. In the second to last stanza of the poem he says, " How many times you send me to jail to know that I won't fail". This line showed me that you could knock him down a million times, but he will always come back harder than he started. From reading this poem, I could tell that the poet has very strong roots. He's a hard man to get over by. He's smart and intelligent but still has very well shown "street smartness". This relates to the majority of African American men and women in the world. We as a whole go through obstacles throughout our lives. More than the average human being. However, God made us to be strong as a rock and to rise above everything. The response to the process Meek Mills is going through shows how we are so tough. This is why I enjoyed reading this poem so much.

This poem was powerful. I enjoyed reading this poem because of how much effort and passion that was put into it. The way Meek Mill explained and the examples he gave helped the reader understand what was going on in life in America as an African American. The poet wanted us to feel his pain, and quite frankly he mastered that task perfectly. However, the way he talked about rising above the line gave the reader motivation, too. He made me want to rise above any line in life and to give my all in everything because I will never be knocked down. When the reader can feel the words the poet is saying then, he's doing something right. This was an all-around amazing poem, and I would recommend it to another interested reader.