A young person struggles with living up to others' expectations and fears rejection, finding it difficult to fit in as a teen dealing with peer pressure, violence, and loss of friends. The poem advises being true to yourself and keeping your head high despite people wanting to see you fail, as surviving the streets is a challenge where violence needs to stop before more youths end up dead.

1. I can’t be the person everybody wants me to be
If only the world can see the real me
I get lonely at times so much I want to cry
Being a teen sometimes get a little hard
Scared of rejection and what the world might think
Be true to your self
Let people think what they want to think
Keep your head up high
There are people who are dying to see you fall
Struggling just to fit in
Fighting a war
Running the streets to young to have all this beef
I close my eyes “Bang Bang “
I wish my friends was still alive
God only knows it’s difficult to survive
Getting buried at a young age
The streets are no game
Sometimes the parents are to be blame
The violence needs to stop before another kid ends up in a
grave …
By 15yr old
Dominique Aiken