Futures Poet Spreads the Love

Futures Elementary School 5th-grader Charles Mack has a message of love, and he wants to share it far and wide. After his poem, the aptly-titled “Love,” won the America SCORES Bay Area poetry slam, he got that chance. First, Charles recited the poem on ABC7 News, and then took his message on a plane ride – his first – to New York City!

There, 11-year-old Charles brought a little poetic love to an unlikely place: Wall Street. One of just two poets representing Oakland on behalf of the SCORES after-school program, Charles delivered his poem on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, leaving his stanzas’ optimistic imprint on an institution used to numbers, not couplets.

An excerpt:
Love is the feeling that you can’t forget,
and when you find love, you can’t regret.
Love is sweet, love is kind, like sugar and honey, and everything fine…

“When I found out I was going to New York, I was like jumping all over the place,” recalls Charles. “When I told my mom and grandma, they were like, ‘Oh my gosh!’”

“It was really cool to be at [the New York Stock Exchange] reading my poem,” he continues. “People were clapping and making me feel happy. I want to go other places, too, and read my poems.”

“I love to write about love,” Charles tells us, “because when I think about love, it makes me feel good about my family and friends. And I like to rhyme; I think it sounds really good.”

He also felt proud to represent Futures and Oakland so far away from home. “It made me feel good because it felt like, out of everyone at my school, it was me. So I wanted to do well for my school.”

Charles credits his SCORES coaches Arturo and Lauren: “I like the SCORES program because it helped me to start writing poems, and because I like soccer,” says Charles. SCORES’ mission is to “empower students in urban communities using soccer, writing, creative expression, and service-learning.”

Charles enjoys the liberating feeling that comes with writing a poem. “When you express your feelings writing poems, it makes you want to say things that you really don’t say often.”

He’s also an appreciator of other poets: Among his favorites is Snowy White. “When I read his poems,” says Charles, “they rhyme and it makes me feel really good because he talks about nature, and I love to read about nature.”

Headed for middle school next year, Futures’ young poet laureate will be missed, but we hope to keep up with him as continues to hone his craft. In 6th grade he hopes to start writing more about nature himself.