The Rose That Grew from Concrete, a collection of poems written by Outpace Shaker, Incorporates many different poems with many different topics and subjects. These Include love, death, dedication poems, and even governmental topics. There are many appealing poems throughout the collection, but I have a personal selection of poems that are my favorites. My favorite poem is “Only 4 the Righteous”, which is a poem which uses certain words that are informal, but Outpace explains them with a more personal meaning.
For example, ” “Lyrics” full of knowledge truth and understanding/ “Hobbies” rapping is my only recreation/ “retire” u must be on some kind of medication/ “why” because I’ll never loosen up my mimic grip” (lines 6-9). It is my favorite poem because it helps to display his talent that is often overlooked by contemporary America. Also, my other favorite poems include “The Rose That Grew from Concrete”, which Is an autobiographical poem, ” If There Be Papal”, and “How Can We Be Free”.
The Rose That Grew from Concrete” Is one of my favorite poems because Outpace, In the poem, categorizes his life as a rose that rose from the concrete. This Is symbolic to living In poverty. Like the rose, Outpace had to struggle to survive. “TLD u hear about the rose that grew from a crack/ In the concrete/ Proving nature’s laws wrong it learned to walk/ without having feet” (p 3. Lines 1-4). “If There Be Pain” is a poem that was written to appeal to the emotions, and I like this poem because of personal reasons.
If there be pain,] all u need to do/ is call on me 2 be with u. ” “How Can We Be Free” is a poem that is written in a sense of rhetoric to all African Americans. It is meant to Jog the mind and provide thought to why we always feel oppressed. There aren’t any poems that are unappealing to any way. I love Outpace as an artist, musician, and a poet. I can relate to a lot of his poems and they tend to appeal to the emotions. I would recommend this book to anyone who Is a fan of poetry with a diverse selection of topics and subjects.