I, Too by Kate-Yeonjae Jeong (15, Texas)

after Langston Hughes
I, too, am the future. 

a young adult, 
a blossoming person, 
a teenager that’s taking in 
the world day by day, 
gaining experience and living, 
learning the ways of life ​

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I am not young, I am not old, 
not much that I know but 
not completely empty, either, 
I am ever-evolving. 

don’t silence me and 
please hear me out 
because this is my world too, 
and there is enough room to spare 
for my thoughts to ripple across 

we are what will run 
what is to come next 
and that will include me. 
​
so, I tell you, 
I, too, am the future.