Fossil Heart

Elijah, 17, is an honors student at Academy for Young Writers in East New York. He is a talented track athlete who just took up boxing and already shows great promise. Elijah wrote this rap for his father Jahmien, who was shot to death by police when Elijah was seven.

"Writing poems relaxes my mind, lets me explore, and helps me to not feel trapped," Elijah says.

Fossil Heart

Heart beating I could feel it in my chest

cause I’ve been having nightmares waking up in

cold sweats, things been getting out of order

Where do I start? suffering from broken Hearts

and a pinch of paranoia

Drop tears for my brothers that done died

arose from the jungle struggling to stay alive

Tryna make this rap work so I can get up out the ville

only nine years left we gone make it pass 25

yo Ima ride

you put my family together but made my momma lose it

so when I see you brother its gone be a horror movie

See I was only a toddler I couldn’t sleep at night

now I got em going stupid like retarded groupies.

you took my father away you a loser brother

you took one of mines now I got a group of brothers

because of you I’ve been living with a bad temper

It’s on sight when I see you Ima need some

supervision.

I had to rap like that to shine like this through all

the broads I hit and the bars I spit

it couldn’t equal to all the tears for the father I miss

I got some anger bottled up

so I got my bottles up

and I drunk my life away like a Jew would do in

Hanukkah

Heart trapped up in a fossil so I’m crying by

a large amount

Drinking all this liquor

Just drinking till I’m throwing up

but you know it’s love when you was alive

this was your dream now it’s mines

so I’m doing it for the both of us.