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See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her 3 never before read poems One and Six, just to be on the safe side and Trust 5/8/16 at the Austin open mic Kick Butt Poetry (from a Sony camera).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her 3 never before read poems One and Six, just to be on the safe side and Trust 45/8/16 at the Austin open mic Kick Butt Poetry (from a Canon Power Shot camera).

One and Six Janet Kuypers 12/15/15 Sixteen. Sixteen. Sixteen’s an important number at least that’s what I hear. Sixteen. Sixteen. Sixteen’s when my birthday came, that’s when I cried, alone. Sixteen. Sixteen. And looking back on my home town I wonder what it means — when sixteen... sixteen is the number of bullets that they found in a boy in my home town. Sixteen. Sixteen. It’s become a mantra in my head of justifying death — Sixteen... Sixteen... I saw the video of the first shot that spun the man to the ground. Sixteen, sixteen... They call this the Chicago way while too many people die. # Sixteen. Sixteen. I remembered the sirens loud when I’d lay awake at night, but sixteen... Sixteen... Sixteen’s not a reminder for death — it should be life. Sixteen. Sixteen. I know I complain I had it tough when I turned that fateful age, but sixteen, sixteen. I’ve died a thousand times inside instead of being shot dead. Sixteen. Sixteen. And now I try to count that high when I think of death nearyby. But sixteen. Sixteen bullets made it clear to the world how everyone thinks of you —

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