The List of Things I’ve Never Done

You’ll have to forgive me.
I’m a little nervous.
I guess you could kind say that this is my poetry debut.
I’ve never done anything like this before.
So I thought about it
And made a list of some of the things that I have never done.

I’ve never seen the sun set below the horizon of a never-ending field, while riding in the back of
a flat bed truck after a hard day’s work.
I’ve never had the chance to listen in on Philosophical conversations, held by educated men,
while I served them coffee or Brandy.
I’ve never been able to provide diamonds for all of the beautiful girls in the world, let alone all
the girls that I have loved.
I’ve never traveled to the heart of New York, where I was able to peddle goods, on street
corners, to earn money for those who paid for my trip.
I’ve never worked in coffee fields for an hourly wage that is much less than the price being paid in the purchase of the final product.
I’ve never been forced to walk the midnight streets of L.A. making in money for pimps by
doing favors for strange men.
I’ve never had to work in shops that are defined by the perspiration that comes from my long hours and manual labor.
I’ve never been sprayed with pesticides while working in heat that could boil your blood.
I’ve never had to wade in the water while being watched over by mercenary men with machine guns held hand-in-hand.
I’ve never been knocked out and kidnapped from my family only to come to in a house full of
broken girls.
I’ve never been kidnapped from my home, given drugs and brain washed into wanting to fight as
a child soldier.
I’ve never seen the last look on my father’s face while I was torn from his arms and taken away.
I’ve never had my virginity stolen from me when I was 10 years old.
And I’ve never been born into a system, where I didn’t have a choice, but only a way of life.
I’ve never done any of these things before.
So the least I can do,
is take on these nerves,
and create awareness for those who have.


-Luke Boggess