13-year-old Detroit youth poet describes the dreams he has for his neighborhood [Video]
Eighth grader Eddie Stewart performs “The Street,” describing his East Detroit neighborhood and the dreams he has for it
Meet Eddie.
He’s 13 and in the 8th grade at Marcus Garvey Academy on the city’s east side.
Eddie was part of a group of middle school students we featured in a series called Street Dreams, in which WDET partnered with InsideOut Literary Arts Project, Off/Page Project and the young poets to capture the dreams they have for the streets they walk each day.
But Eddie was the only student to work with us on a feature video. He wove two poems together to tell the story of his street and performs it for you here.
So grab your headphones, sit back and dive into Eddie Stewart’s world.
Beaconsfield through Eddie’s eyes
Below are photographs Eddie took of his street, family and home.
(Hover over the picture to click through the album.)
When you think about it, poetry puts a magical spell on you when you write. … It just gives you this feeling – it makes you want to cry, it makes you want laugh. It just does anything. It’s like it’s magical.
The Street
by Eddie Stewart
the street that is dark
the street that is haunted
the street that’s in your dreams at night
the street where the sun never shines
the street where water never flows
the street cars wouldn’t dare to come down
the street that says happiness is extinct
the street that says don’t smile or laugh
the street that says fall in hopelessness
the street that says what is love
the street that asks what is family
the street that says what is a friend
About the poem
Eddie: It just tells kind of scary things about my street. Well, really it’s not like my real street. I just imagined it … It comes from my heart.
The Dream Street
by Eddie Stewart
the street where happiness lives right next door
the street where animals can run free
the street where laughter is heard all day
the street that is home
the street that is love
the street that is hope
the street to love
the street to care for
the street to live on
this street is my home
this street is my family
this street is my destiny
About the poem
Eddie: This poem is just a picture of what I would want my street to always be or look like … It’s my dream street.
Take a look at the other students’ photos and poems as part of our Street Dreams project >>
Funding for this project made possible by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Renaissance Journalism’s Michigan Reporting Initiative and the Ford Foundation as part of WDET’s work with Detroit Journalism Cooperative
