‘I am’ poems – by 8I

Here are some moving poems that 8I wrote in a writing class. The task was to write 11 sentences that begin with “I am”, in the style of Ruby Langford Ginibi, but in their own context.

‘I am’ poems

I am every child that never understood why they migrated

I am every child that struggled with a foreign language

I am every child that had to be pulled out of class to be taught English

I am every child whose friends all moved interstate every year

I am every child that has a language barrier between them and their family

I am every child that only sees their family once a year

I am every child that never met uncles

I am every child that couldn’t attend their grandparent’s funeral

I am every child that hid in the library to avoid people

I am every child that had a half-sister

I am every child that hasn’t seen their dad for years

I am an Asian girl, who’s been asked “What are you?”

I am an Asian girl, who’s been mocked for my culture

I am an Asian girl, who’s a puppet strung by society’s standards

I am an Asian girl, who’s been told she’ll never be good enough

I am an Asian girl, who hides her struggle behind her smile

I am an Asian girl, who’s been called a virus

I am an Asian girl, who’s expected to be perfect

I am an Asian girl, who’s concerned about our future

I am an Asian girl, who’s had ups and downs

I am an Asian girl, who’s been told I look the same as all other Asians

I am an Asian girl, stuck in a broken world

I am a girl in a sexist world that puts women down.

I am told that brave women are “outspoken”.

I am shown that confident women are “bossy”.

I am taught to conform to unrealistic beauty standards.

I am taught to judge others that cannot, that they are worth less.

I am pressured to succeed in a system that doesn’t want me to.

I am surrounded by women working twice as hard and getting half as far.

I am surrounded by oblivious men who don’t realise they’re part of the problem.

I am overwhelmed by all the hate women receive for the same things men are praised for.

I am shocked that the leaders we expect to fix this are all men.

I am a girl growing up in a society run by men.

I am every musician who has missed a cue,

I am every musician who has played out of tune,

I am every musician who has bashed their instrument out of frustration,

I am every musician who has attempted a hard piece way out of my level,

I am every musician who hasn’t practised 40 hours a day,

I am every musician who has compared myself to a prodigy,

I am every musician who cries after playing a wrong note,

I am every musician who has used a metronome,

I am every musician who has performed for family,

I am every musician whose parents has asked them to be quiet,

I am every musician who has dreams of playing as a soloist.

I am every straight white male who has everything handed to them on a silver platter.

I am every straight white male who has been naturally gifted both academically and athletically.

I am every straight white male who has a loving home to go to.

I am every straight white male to be able to afford a $1000 pogo-stick, so they can pursue another meaningless world record.

I am every straight white male who has every opportunity to achieve his dreams.

I am every straight white male who has sat through a human reproduction science lesson.

I am every straight white male who, even though they go to an amazing school, with great teachers, and have the money to get tutored outside of school if they wish to, yet pretended to be sick so I could not do the maths test that I hadn’t studied for.

I am every straight white male who has been too nervous to talk to a girl.

I am every straight white male who has been held back after class for talking.

I am every straight white male who has cried because their mum cut his toast in triangles, not squares.

I am every Xbox Live player who has been 360 no-scoped by a sweaty try hard

I am every Xbox Live player who has been verbally abused in game chat

I am every Xbox Live player who has grinded for the perfect loadout

I am every Xbox Live player who has only ever owned an XB360

I am sick of noob tube demolitionist loadouts

I am every Xbox Live player who has gotten an AC130 kill streak, only for the game to crash

I am sick of Spawn Campers

I am sick of paying subscription fees

I am sick of the playerbase

I am every Xbox live player who has forgotten their password and had to start again, but most of all

I am every Xbox Live player who witnessed the death of Roach and Ghost at the hands of General Shepherd

I am one who has climbed to the top of a misty mountain, and seen the clouds beneath,

I am one who has sat in a garden, under the sun, with a cat, and a cup of tea,

I am one who has talked with my grandparents, for ever so long,

I am one who has been among groves of antarctic beeches, misty as can be

I am one who has seen NSW’s tallest tree,

I am one who has enjoyed luxury,

I am one who has been stressed and overwhelmed ‘till I cannot see, through a veil of tears,

I am one who has seen those dearest to me, perish,

I am one who has hoped, quite foolishly, for that which I can not have,

I am one who has hoped for eternity.

I am a child forced to bear the guilt.

I am an artist with the skills shunned away.

I am a person, having been manipulated to take the blame.

I am that person on the streets, unsure of what to see myself as.

I am a human, part of my religion, you can’t force me into yours.

I am not a scholar, but instead I draw and write.

I am the angry one, constantly feeling like I’ll explode.

I am that person, born in Australia when my family wasn’t.

I am the student, under pressure, stress, and trying to contain it all.

I am the teenager, trying not to fail school, even if that seems impossible now with what the teachers make us all do.

I am a person with feelings, burdens and regrets, just like all of you.