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Chicago Was...

She was from Chicago, but was this where she belonged?  

Her name was She, and she wanted to go 

To the place she always dreamed of

A place she called home


Chicago was Culture  

Wearing dresses and ponytails not caring what others thought, 

she drew on walls and danced in the water.

Artists and writers from Chicago made her love 

The old stories and plays she always heard of 

She felt she was only from Chicago 

When she would go Places like downtown, and River North


Places like these 

invited people in by how nice and clean they looked.  

Places of priority

These places were where people wanted to travel to


The huge streets, city lights, diverse 

races and languages. 

Happy to pass by people who spoke Russian, French,

 or broken English.


Chicago Was Art 


There is a lot of art downtown but there isn't really any in the neighborhoods, especially in neighborhoods of minority.

Dancers and Singers on the train station platform

not only for money but for the entertainment of others. 

This music moved her, and her friends danced too, but you never knew that music could emotionally impact her when those very friends would get her in trouble.

the old churches found in the depths 

the opera and ballet, the libraries always full

Studios, dance, and art in every route you stumbled upon


These things were what she learned

And this was how she grew 

But Dreams were never reality She knew of life not like us,

She looked at the world and saw clouds, rainbows, oceans and trees not hardship, trash, and thieves. 

Her Chicago was all she knew

She could fall asleep in that place of make-believe 

But when she would woke reality became true  

This is where she became She: strong, confident, and gleeful. 

Her Chicago was all she knew

Somewhere she called home

To the place she always dreamed of

Her name Was She, and she wanted to go

Chicago was but so many things 

but was this where she belonged?


From the 826CHI Student Publication: Chaos Comes Naturally

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