2020
by Maxine Babb & Agnes Bannigan
We decided to each write a poem about 2020 to highlight the fact that we’re two different people, coming from two different backgrounds, who shared the same year.
2020 by Maxine Babb Confused, abused, broken down, tired I don’t know how to feel anymore This year took so much out of my core People dying, families crying pandemics a’risin protests and riots In comes a recession but some still haven’t learned their lesson Unmasked, not doing their tasks But, in 2021, a new hope comes in And if people don’t like it...Bi-Den! 2020 by Agnes Bannigan I am like the year itself: Conflicted and contradicted. I am ashamed of White skin. I am angry At a killer protein that I cannot even see. I am hurt and confounded By family who worships A monster and a dictator Who lives to hate. I am so speared by what Men do to women That I wonder if I could be With a man at all, But I am with The one I am with. I am also proud Of good work, to have a job At all, to have a desk Where I rest. I am safe In my new home That I own with a man Who loves me and is not One of the warriors With a spear. 2020 was not all Blazing incineration. I am blessed to be Alive and well.
Performance
Process
It was interesting to see how we both were able to portray our year through our poems for other people to relate to. We were inspired by the idea of people from diverse backgrounds coming together and also the idea of shining a light on the positive things that happened this year.
Maxine Babb
Maxine Babb is a 16-year-old African American girl who was born and raised in New York City. She is very proud of where she came from. She lives with her younger sister and her two parents. She has always shown a deep love for writing and fashion for as long as she can remember, there's nothing that excites her more. She's a passionate and driven writer. She doesn't plan to stop making the people around her proud and sharing her voice with the world.
Agnes Bannigan
Agnes Bannigan is a fiction writer living in New York City. She works as a Writing Editor Manager at Great Minds and is proud to edit the language in the most-used math curriculum in the United States. She has a MFA from the University of Maryland, College Park. In her free time, she likes to write, mentor, do yoga, and read. She has a cat named Mina and a dog mom named Artemis. She lives with her partner and pets in Brooklyn.
