My Life Poem by louis rams

I am a nuyoriquen (new York Puerto Rican) born and raised
Living with the Bronx gangs was my craze.
You had to wear your street colors wherever you would go
This was the gang colors that you had to show.

I had to be in three gangs, just to get to school
This had become part of the street rules.
I had to change my jerseys going from turf to turf
And when I’d forget it would get much worse.

Scorpions, Dragons, Lightnings too, and three other
Divisions of Crowns ruled the south Bronx.
Egyptian, Royal, Bohemian Crowns
They had become Bronx renown.

But the most feared was the older gang
The Suicides was their name.
Against all gangs they would go down
Including their brothers from the Bohemian Crowns.

For each gang I had a different name
Derringer for the two derringers I carried
Nava Jo for my climbing skills
Blade for the switch blades I carried.
And with these names I had gained fame.
(ha-ha if you could call it that!)

I knew that I would have to leave these streets
And getting out of the gangs was the biggest feat.
I joined the Army at eighteen years of age
And from there my life did change.
When I was in the streets, I could not write my poetry
For this was punkish for a guy
and they said poetry was a lie.

This was the times of desegregation in Alabama, and Mississippi
And then entering into Vietnam, when the French moved out.
This left an imprint on my mind
and I wasn’t going back into past times.
When I returned back to the states
And went To an army buddies home
and met his family
I knew my past life would be history.

His father was a poet, and the best that I have known
And to change my life to me he had shown.
Anyone can change, with help and determination
And your belief in GOD will be your salvation.