Poetry Reading Response

         Teenagers around the world get influenced by there surroundings and friends. They want to fit into a group that they see, they want to be like them, and they want to act like them. In the poem “Please Don't Take My Air Jordan”, the main character is having the same issues. He is embarrassed to see his friends laughing at him. Therefore he will do anything to get new shoes or other things things to look good. The main character of this poem is influenced by his surroundings and friends.

          In the poem “Please Don't Take My Air Jordan” the main character feels embarrassed to see his friends laughing at him. So he steals or does anything to look good. The quote “I guess it makes me feel special inside / when I'm wearing fresh gear I don't have to hide”, shows us readers that the main character is assuming that if he wears old clothes, his friends will laugh at him. As a result of him thinking this way, the main character starts to steal things. “My crew's laughin at me cuz I'm wearing old gear / school's almost over summer is near / and I'm sportin torn jordans and need somethin new / there's only one thing left to do / Cut school Friday catch the subway downtown / check out my victims hanging around / maybe I'll get lucky and find easy prey”. The main character is so scared to get laughed at that he will steal from anybody. He will even cut school and go steal from someone with Jordan. This is a good example of what makes someone steal because he/she is influenced by there surroundings.

In the poem “Please Don't Take My Air Jordan” the main character starts to kill for his needs to look good.            He cuts school Friday and packs his gun and goes for hunting. “The red emblem of Michael looked as if it could fly / not one spot of dirt the airs were brand new / had my pistol knew just what to do / took off fast but didn't get to far / I fire (POW) he fell between two parked cars”. This quote shows us readers that he would even kill people to get his needs to look good. This shows us that he is so embarrassed that he was influenced to the point where he starts to kill. It also makes readers infer that he has bad or fake friends. It makes me feel this way because a friend wouldn't judge a person by how they dress, or even care about what that person wears. I think a friend is a person that wouldn't laugh at the friend. The main character has to change his way of looking good and start to wear things that his surroundings wear. This is another good example of what makes someone steal and kill because he/she is influenced by there surroundings.

         After reading this poem I realized that teenager needs to learn to find true friend that will not influence them in a bad way. The main character on the other hand was influenced a lot and caused him to do what he is doing, that is killing and stealing. While it is important to make friends, people should wear extra lens so they see whose his true friends or fake friends.