Inspired by Shel Silverstien’s “Hungry Mungry”

They’re coming. They’ll get me.
They’ll get me, and hit me, and make me bleed my young blood that looks just like theirs,
With skin that looks just like theirs, but something in me’s different.
As different as my mothers before me.

It doesn’t matter.
They’re coming.
Their dark boots clomp down the hall, begging to bash my ribs, or my face, or my shins, or--

--They’re here. They take their fists and their feet and their words, taking turns finding the soft flesh
Covered by my backpack and my shoes and my clothes and my bones.

They found me, and they’ll beat me, and they’ll **** me--
That’s what I think until--
--I change.

I grow. My shins and my fingers and my skull and my toes.
My body elongates, it stretches and lengthens.
I’m still bleeding and bleeding and still bruising and bleeding.
But the blows stop.

They back away, at least I think so, but my body pushes them farther and farther,
I’m pressed against the ceiling, pressed against the lockers, until I feel them give, and I’m free.
I break through the ceiling, I break past the rain, I--

--Stand up. My head skims the clouds, misting my face. I feel myself drift away from this place,
As my head reaches farther, my neck, my chest, my stomach, my legs.

Trees break beneath my feet.
They crack and splinter, just like the houses, just like the schools.

The ground gets farther and farther away, my feet so big they spread across the land and the seas.
I’m blowing up like a balloon, like Violet-*******-Beauregard, from that book I read in in the second grade.
I push back against mass under my feet,
Let them feel the fire, let them feel the heat.
Earth is flying too close to the sun, as I grow, and I grow, and I grow.

The stars drift around me, popping blistering holes in my skin as I grow and push against them too.
I stick my hand in Jupiter, in Neptune, in Saturn.
I crush Mars like a dirt clod inside my fist, and slap nebulas together with a flick of the wrist.

I am the sun, and I am the storm, and the wind and the waves,
From the place I was birthed--

--The place I was birthed? Where was I? Where’s that?

I look to my feet and see naught but a speck,
I do a summersault to examine it closer--

--Not an inch from the Sun, my home withers and dies.

But still I grow, and I grow, and I grow.

Earth is now too small to hold

Still I grow, and I grow, and I grow.

I see so many things from here, but I shan’t get closer, for fear they’ll disappear.
But that’s not enough, still I grow, and I grow, and I grow.

Pushing them away like so many I know.

I hope and I dream for this ride to stop, still I grow, and I grow and I grow.

I grow, and I grow, and I grow.

Early before the **** crows
I woke up to sing,"grow"
Grow grow grow
Grow Kirui grow
Grow and be a doctor grow
Grow grow grow.
And my mother could spent time
Gazing at me..
Could it be spirits ?
She could ask but never did she!
I was tuned and steared
I knew nothing but my song
Grow grow grow.
The world has constantly made me go back sing.
Grow grow grow.
I sing to restore hope
To enrich my faith ..
Grow grow grow!

You're as active as a thief's night eye;
You cannot talk yet, but you still try;
You are almost always hyperactive;
Yes most survive. But I think you live.

I wish you would not ever grow up;
That you'd be a baby, play nonstop.
I wish. I pray. I beg. I even dare hope,-
But then, you were born to grow up.

Seeing the silhouette of you as a man,-
Inspires the thought of 'Emmanuel Pan.'
Maybe then you'd not grow as you should;
Just so your world would always be good.

Please don't grow; keep your stature;
I still fancy your un-nurtured nature.
Do not grow big. Don't even grow tall,
So you don't stop looking up to your uncle.

I wish you would not ever grow up;
That you'd be a baby, play nonstop.
I wish. I pray. I beg. I even dare hope,-
But then, you were born to grow up.

I really don't want you to grow.
But you'll have to, I too know;
So when you do grow up, eventually,-
I pray you grow to be better than me.

Whatever happens, remember this;
Life's a puzzle; you're merely a big piece.
Grow bigger. Grow taller. Grow up kid,
But don't you dare try to grow stupid!

Be cool. Be funny. Be you tee full;
But you should not be too big a fool.
Laugh. Smile. Cry. Dance. Its important.
But don't do it just because you want.

Play. Have fun. Enjoy life's benefits.
But matches and girls are off limits.
Lose yourself if you really have to,
But never lose hope or lose you.

Get in trouble. Get out. Get in a fight.
Yes! You heard me right. A freaking fight!
I, too, fought for that in which I believed.
How else was our Independence to be achieved?

Lie, only next to your rightful spouse;
But only get a wife after you get a house.
Raise anybody who dares to mess with you,-
Only if you raise your kids to be better than you.

Grow up. Grow old. Grow wise. Grow a beard.
But never grow above the wisdom you heard;
Like money. Love family. Have an opinion,
But remember to always keep it as your own.

Change your clothes sometimes. Its OK if you do.
But never change into something less than you.
Live. Be. Do. Have. Its all good if the time's right.
Grow up someday, but chatter once more tonight.

Keep Smiling

to grow out my health
to grow out my self esteem
to grow out my sense of adventure
to grow out my happiness
to grow out my honesty
to grow out my bravery
to grow out my laughter
to grow out my openness
to grow out my vulnerability
to grow out my forgiveness
to grow out my potential
to grow out my inner mermaid
to grow out my trust
to grow out my creativity
to grow out my perseverance
to grow out my patience
to grow out my motivation
to grow out my willingness
to grow out my beliefs
to grow out my soul
to grow out my desire
to grow.

Just about the size of my thumb
Plant so delicate and dumb
little by little I see my henna plant grow

You don't have tongue to talk
You don't have legs to walk
little by little I see my henna plant grow

The sun makes you sweat
And rain makes you wet
little by little I see my henna plant grow

Up grows your shoot
Down grows your root
little by little I see my henna plant grow

One by one leaves sprout
Making you strong and stout
little by little I see my henna plant grow

In this season of spring
Sparrows around you dance and sing
little by little I see my henna plant grow

At times they pluck your leaves
those cute little thieves
little by little I see my henna plant grow

I give a miserly glance but I don't interfere
It is entirely nature's affair.
little by little I see my henna plant grow

Your tiny existence soothes my eyes
I can hear you when others fail hear your voice
little by little I see my henna plant grow

You are Sharing another plant's flowerpot
Don't worry a new *** soon we will allot
little by little I see my henna plant grow


There you will grow bigger and bigger
Your branches will become stiffer and stiffer
little by little I see my henna plant grow


Within you they will make beautiful nest
Sparrows with enthusiasm and zest
little by little I see my henna plant grow

And when you are big and strong
Maybe then I'll be inspired to write another song.
little by little I see my henna plant grow.
little by little I see my henna plant grow.

His father reminded him of the giddy times,
As if he forgot them.
He does this habitually,
Implying that a lot has changed.
Of course, because today isn't yesterday
And the present isn't the past.
He wishes it was like before.
He can't recognize his son
As if he's wearing a mask.
Grew through adolescence without him
As he put on his mask.
He can't recognize him,
But he'll continue to remind him
That they are

Growing distant,
Without being literally far away,
It seems like it though.
Separated like fission,
And the miles grow and grow.

The true colors faded,
After they were shown.
The underlying tone of it all,
Segregated by a labyrinth of walls.

While we were wearing masks
We couldn't recognize each other,
While we were wearing masks
We couldn't recognize each other anymore.

Growing distant,
Without being literally far away,
It seems like it though.
Separated like fission,
And the miles grow and grow.

He remembers the connection he had with her,
As if she forgot about it.
He speaks of how spending time with her elated him,
Implying that he misses her.
Of course today isn't yesterday
And the present isn't the past,
But he wishes it was like before,
So he asks if they could return to what they once were,
He asks if they could return to what they once were.

They're growing distant
Without being literally far away,
It seems like it though.
Separated like fission,
And the miles grow and grow.

Separated like fission,
And the miles grow and grow,
The miles grow and grow.
It seems like it though.
Growing distant,
And the miles grow and grow,
The miles grow and grow,
Growing distant.

(c) 2014 Brandon Antonio Smith

(Originally written 12/1/10,
Revised 9/23/14)

I need to grow up, I need to grow up, I need to grow up!
Everyone tells me so and I refuse to listen. I want to grow up,
I want to grow up, I want to grow up! They all do it so smoothly
but I don't know how. I have to grow up, I have to grow up,
I have to grow up! My life and I live in this parallelism, watching
each other run at a different pace. I have to need to want!
Crying old sorrows, watching antique chains, doesn't work anymore.
The have is to break free, the need to for my sanity, the want is to
finally be the grown up I desire.

It will break, hearts break, frankly all the time.
Its not because people care less or do it on purpose.
Isn’t it because in today’s life we know too much, want too much and leave so little room to discover something new about ourselves?
We live in a scripted world, reality TV being a perfect example.
Something as simple as a text gets edited until we press send.
Unless you are angry, ’cause that poison get unleashed without a second thought.

Why so afraid to make a fool of yourself?
Did you know that when you apologize to who it matters, you learn and grow?
Grow, you don’t change, you don’t break and even if you fall apart a little, its completely ok ’cause you grow.

Look at a tree, very few of the big beautiful ones grow straight up and then stop.
They start at the bottom, pretty small, then they get bigger and want deeper roots.
They grow an extra branch and grow a little more.
Someone comes along and picks all the leaves off one side, so it splits again and decides to grow more branches, so that it can grow more leaves to get bigger.
The tree didn’t get up and slap the idiot for picking all the leaves, taking away the part it needs most to stay alive.
No, it grew deeper roots and grew a little faster.
Every time it hits an obstacle it grows more branches.
Soon enough its this massive tree, yet it keeps growing.
Growing, not because it needs to over come a challenge.
No, more simple because it lives now looking up towards the sun and wants more.
At this point it might even have realized its purpose and decides to flower, so all the birds come back.
It strengthens the branch it grew during hard times, now because they are of use to someone else.
In the end when this tree can no longer grow, it dies.
Even though all the leaves die with it, the branch that it grew and strengthened still stands.
The birds still come back and even if they have no idea how great it once was they still use the branches.

So don’t crumble and give up when times are hard.
Take a deep breath, use what you have and grow.
Become bigger and stronger, don’t cut yourself down.
Just simply grow from there.
Look up and dig deep, just keep going.