Mural Poem by St. Louis City Juvenile Detention Center Youth:
Flip It
We all have pain and things going on in our lives, big things.
We don’t have to stop thinking about it.
We come to art and relax.
We look at things that make us want to move.
We are inspired by movement.
We are in control of our bodies.
We are in control of our minds.
When we move, the art moves.
When the art moves, we move again.
There are no mirrors on the number.
There is a lot of looking at others to see yourself.
There is subtlety in our gesture.
Our gesture makes image.
We see our image.
We have to face our face.
I’m not faceless.
I wasn’t here for nothing.
Now I know.
I spent part of my life here, sitting on the number.
I’m not a number.
There are many talented youth here.
I am talented.
I am in the picture.
I perform.
I look.
I look at it again, and flip it.
Flip it. Flip it.
Look; flip it.
I express.
I bond.
I look beyond the bricks.
I look beyond the walls.
I rize.
“Our youth are just like those other kids you see every day, and in some
ways
better. It’s not easy for people to understand that when they look at
the criminal masks they wear on their exterior, but there is another side, an inside,
that glows with hope, dreams, talents, love and a longing for a better
day. Do
you see that when you look at their mural? If you don’t just flip it,
and look
again.”
~Nathan Graves, Activity Coordinator, St. Louis City Juvenile Detention Center
