Poem Analysis pt.2

Jonathan Velasquez
IB Lit & Performance
Due: October 7, 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 the sense of motivation. This poem shows all the struggles a black man goes through in life in America, but also encourages the reader to never back down, to rise above the line and exceed dreams.

The struggles an African American male go 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 own neighborhood, is risking your life. They also don't get anything easy. From the system, to school, to even job opportunities. 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 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 really helped the reader understand what was really 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 really gave the reader motivation, too. He made me personally want 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 reccomend it to another reader that is interested.



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