Feelings Were So Intense 1

The cover cartoon drawn by “GMan” showed a hip hop character against the graffiti background of Streams 6 in bubble letters and the phrase,“Stop. Check It Out. Word!!!” The anthology represented what young people were thinking in 1992.

It opened with the poem,“Laughter” by Tiffany Knight. She wrote of Billy who confided to the narrator that

“. . . parents kicked me out yesterday,
and now I’m going to be put up for
adoption.”
(p. 7)

Unwanted children who got into trouble are a universal problem. The poem addressed the underlying drama of a young boy whose behavior led to his arrest and alienation from his parents. He was forced to live in a group home, and school continues around him. It concluded with the lines:

The rest of the gym class is
laughing at one of the kids who is
throwing rocks at a sea gull,
but Billy and I sit,
and he’s not laughing any more.
(p. 8)

Yvette’s “A Day of Birth,” described a child entering a family. The six year old narrator was awoken at midnight by her mother to watch her aunt give birth.

“She had told us to go and wash our hands and faces. Before we knew what really was going on, she escorted us to the biggest room of the house. When we entered the room, my aunt was not there yet. My mother had told us not to worry, because my aunt was outside playing basketball. She said that it helps her to reliever her labor pains.”
(p.9)

After an explaining about labor pains, Yvette wrote, “my aunt appeared and all the adults that were there helped her position herself for the birth. The midwife was cleaning the utensils and lay the sheets and clothes for her and the baby. While she was doing so, she explained to us what was happening. At first, I was scared, because you see water coming from inside of her. Then it started opening a little, and it looked kind of bluish. My aunt was making noises as if it were very painful; for some women it is, and for others not that much.

“ Anyway, I started leaving, because I was crying and scared. At that moment, I thought that my aunt was being ripped apart. My mother took me aside and said to me, Don’t you want to see how you were born also?’ So I turned back.”
(p. 10)

That was followed by Linda’s Haiku, “Sleep Baby Sleep” --

The baby’s asleep
Wrapped in his blanket so snug
Isn’t he sweet? Shhh!
(p. 12)


Streams 6