Red Shoes

This poem was written NYC high school student Denee M. as part of the Freedom and Citizenship Civic Leadership Project, with help from undergraduate Teaching Assistants Carolina C. and Daniel K. 

View the rest of the 2023 group project here and read the other student pieces here.

Red shoes

They were no longer white

I stare at the lifeless body 

Why? 

Why my child? 

It is more than hurt I feel right now

A thousand bullets in my chest 

Yet i still stand

One bullet through her 

Snap.

She’s gone 

I feel so numb

My mind is in a million places 

My vision is blurry

My heart is beating out of my chest

like a million drums at once

My world feels like it is spinning 

Pools of blood around me 

I want to sink into the floor 

Feel as cold as the concrete 

I hear the sirens from outside 

My body floats away 

“Ma’am are you alright?” 

Red shoes 

All I see are red shoes 

 

This content was last updated on May 3, 2023