By Charisma Holly
11th grade | Detroit Edison Public School Academy Early College of Excellence | Michigan
Finalist, Climate and Environment category
With lines from "The Soil Farmers: Black Food Sovereignty and Climate Solutions" by Justin Cook, a Pulitzer Center reporting project
Plant a seed in me.
My earthy hues hold a history of
forgotten and forsaken agriculture;
Born into a culture that is still unlearning to rip off its own petals
and now realizing how to nurture itself:
It’s a healing process,
as in we’re healing the land,
we’re healing the soil,
we’re healing ourselves
along the way.
Water me at my roots.
I can only grow when I am
connected to where I come from;
Pour into my mother too as
she is the earth that brings forth
new life.
New light shines
through the twisted branches
of family trees to remind us that
we are a people
one people
one person is all it takes to start.
Be green-thumbed gardener;
good steward.
Hug my thorns gently
and if I should wilt, take the
browning leaves and remind them
that spring will come again;
that they may return to the soil
to help someone else grow,
just as the peanut plant did;
Like tilling
Like watering
Like growing
Like healing
the rich black and brown
soil inside of
you,
me,
us,
All of us.
Charisma is a rising senior at the Detroit Edison Public School Academy High School. She enjoys writing poetry, performing spoken-word, participating in theatrical arts, being at the Detroit Institute of Arts, and exploring new things. As a young, Black girl from Detroit, Charisma has seen first-hand the power of building community and expressing creativity. She uses poetry and spoken word art to share her voice in hopes of inspiring others, impacting her neighborhood, and making the world a better place.
Read more winning entries from the 2024 Fighting Words Poetry Contest.