My name is Charisma Holly and this is Aim Higher.

I shoot for the moon eyes trained on the brightest light to lead my way.

The shells of doubt to be pushed and pulled by the tide.

I've tried and I've tried to keep my feet away from cloud nine.

Head turned toward the ground, ambling along with the crowd.

But now the night is calling on me to shine.

To be a guide.

I shoot for the moon Because I found the further I climb, the more it makes others seek to elevate.

Greatness cannot wait for me to play victim to disarray.

I have my head on straight.

Striving to achieve what my own bones do not yet believe.

If my spirit is willing, I can do anything.

I'll lace up my boots and wrap my jacket closed This world can be cold, but I am warm blooded, hard hard headed and kind hearted.

And I intend to finish what I started.

The only difference between my present and my yesterday is I have a mind set on taking flight to a sky above limitation.

Unknown Destination.

Uncharted Triumph.

The only question is are you going to come with me?

Are you ready to let go of the gravity holding you tethered to your situation?

Are you ready to open your imagination to perceive the world in new light, allowing the possibilities to become reality?

You can become valedictorian.

You can push for that promotion.

You can love with new devotion and let go of what hurts.

There are infinitely many words to show that you are capable if you are willing to take a leap of faith.

I know this excursion might seem uncertain, but I promise you the same thing I promised myself that everything needed is already within.

If you have been waiting for permission to take that first step, this This is it.

This journey is a story that has yet to be told.

And we are the writers who will determine how it will unfold as we boldly go where no one has dared to dream.

We each must continue to shoot for the moon, because even if you miss every single time, you will always land among the stars.

Oh, my God, Charimsa Thank you so much.

That poem!

I really love that you brought that poem to us today.

And what a lovely place to do it, too, in the Fisher Building.

I love this building.

It's so beautiful.

I would say it only is almost as beautiful as the poem that you just read.

Oftentimes when you think of motivational poems, it's you just got to do better.

But you even acknowledged your own kind of like fear.

It was like, What was that line?

You stay away from cloud nine?

Try to keep my feet away from cloud nine, head turned toward the ground, ambling along with the crowd, just trying to, you know, not aspire to be anything.

Just try to conform, try to, you know, keep the path of least resistance.

Yeah, but I mean, as artists, we can't do that.

Right.

So can you talk to me a little bit about how you got started on the youth poetry scene?

I guess I really started writing poetry when I was around 12 or 13 when like Covid was starting and we all just kind of needed some way to express what we were feeling and going through.

And then when I was 14, I was in high school and I joined Citywide Poets, the after school program with InsideOut Literary Arts, and from there things just kind of exploded.

I love InsideOut.

I started InsideOut as a high school student too.

So like, it's a really great program and I wish I know that there are programs all over the country that do programing for youth poets, but there's something in the way that InsideOut works.

So like what Like kind of got you when you first started going to their programing and how did that how, what was that experience meeting other young poets and stuff?

It was so shocking that it's almost ludicrous to me now.

Like now that I've seen the entire scene.

But when I first met my best friend Adrian, our first thing was like, Oh, you write poetry or I write poetry too!

and I was just like wait other people actually do this!

and then from being in InsideOut being in City Wide Poets, it was just like, Oh, there are people like all over your city who do this all over your state.

So I was very surprised.

But the more I got into it, the more natural it felt, the more connected it felt.

Oh, of course everybody does this.

This is great.

I feel like I had that same experience when I was at high school, like I was writing by myself.

And then I met my best friend in high school through, like an InsideOut program.

And then I started meeting people all over the state and it was like kind of like my what I call my origin story as a poet.

But you, like, I see you everywhere.

Tell me about, like, your travels and what the difference between, like doing poetry in Detroit, doing poetry in Michigan, and then, like, I know you've been out of state, too, right?

Yeah.

So I feel like the more that I was able to kind of break out of the shell of like, Oh, I'm the only person who does this, and I'm the only person who's going to like my work.

The more I was able to see opportunities just open up.

And so I was a part of the 2023, 2024 youth performance troupe with InsideOut.

So we did performances all over the city and that was really fun because you can yell “What up doe?” into the crowd and everybody just responds to you.

But I am also a part of the Mosaic Youth theater of Detroit and we took a trip to Kentucky and they were having a block party and we were talking to another group who was based there, and they were saying like, Oh yeah, you know, we do poetry and everything.

And so she asked us like, does anybody just have material that they just always have ready?

And I was like, I do.

And so she was like, Great, you're going up in five.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.

I didn't agree to all this, but because I was there, I was ready.

I had my poems memorized.

Me and three of our other young artists, we went in a circle, practiced 5 minutes later, we were onstage, im-promp-tu, in a different state that I had never been to before.

But I really enjoyed it.

And it was a lot of fun.

They were so intrigued.

They were like, You guys are from Detroit and everything, so it was great to see that positive recognition for my city somewhere outside of my city, like, Oh, you're from Detroit.

Like all of like, like that's, that's the place.

All the cars and everything and stuff.

So.

So like, what has been like one of your favorite poems that you've heard or read and the most recently that you like, really liked?

Hmm.

I've been on button poetry a lot, so I really like Rudy Francisco.

It is A Series of Gentle Reminders, Adrenaline Rush.

Button poetry is a really good place to find new work by contemporary artists, and they record performances of poets from all over the world.

It's really a great resource for anyone who's looking to get started in poetry.

So I'm glad to hear that you're looking in that area.

Its actually kind of where I got started.

I remember when I was 12 or 13, I was looking up things on YouTube and I came across Rudy Francisco and that was kind of my introduction to spoken word because before I was writing like for the page, but when I saw him at the microphone in the way he was expressing it, it made me think like, Oh, I want to do that.

So that's kind of also why I started memorizing my poems, because he was a really big inspiration to me.

And one of the things I always like to say is I want to do something that inspires somebody else to want to do something, because that's kind of what it was for me.

So just being able to see that and then wanting to be that, I also wanted to be that person who as a teenager showed other teenagers that they can get started on something like this while they're still young.

I'm curious...

I know you have another poem that you're going to do for us.

Yes.

Can you talk a little bit about that poem?

Tell me what it is we're about to hear.

The title of the poem is All You Have to Lose and it's a really funny story because I actually wrote it about my little sister who was like 11 at the time.

And so she was telling me like, Oh, I'm dating this boy or whatever.

And I was like, Oh, you're 11 but, Okay.

And so she was telling me about it, and she was like, Yeah, but if you broke up with me, I'd be fine.

And I was thinking, like, what!?

And so then that kind of made me think about how I saw my own relationships.

Like if I was willing to lose you today, what kind of relationship do we even have?

Like, are we really that close?

If you said goodbye to me tomorrow and I wouldn't be upset about it.

So that's just kind of where it stemmed from.

And I love how, like, you're thinking about writing a poem that's not necessarily your own personal experience, but you're finding inspiration in somebody else's poem.

Definitely.

Oh, that's great.

Well, I can't wait to hear it.

I can't wait to share it.

All right.

Well, this is Charisma with her second poem.

The title of this poem is All You Have to Lose.

You say you love me most when you're least afraid to lose me.

But can you really say you love me if you're not afraid to lose me?

If walking away couldn't make you cry.

If you already know you would be alright.

If you know that this isn't worth the fight, can you really say you love me?

Because if you're going to love me, love me like I'm a Band-Aid.

Love like pulling away would make you bleed.

I want you to look at me like I'm the light of your world.

Break me and you won't be able to see.

If you're going to love me Raise me like I'm a tall glass of water.

Because if you don't hold me carefully, I might just spill.

If you're going to love me, love me like I'm the key to heaven.

Because I might just be the key to heaven.

If you're going to love me, love me like your last $5.

Love me like car keys, Something you can lose but pray you never do.

If you're going to love me, Love me like eternity, Love like you want it to last forever.

Because if you need something quick fall in love with hookups, something disposable love, plastic cups.

If you want something easy to blow away, you can love leaves.

But if you're going to love me, hold me with hands that tremble at the thought of dropping me Hug me so close I can feel your heart beat rapidly at the idea of ever letting go This love will be a dream that blocks off your nightmares of falling off Cloud nine I want Monopoly over your minds.

And even if your next role isn't enough to make it past Go you can always land on my train station and conduct your electricity to mine.

Connect Even if the hairs on the back of your neck warn you that things can get shocking.

Breathe with me.

Even if your lungs take in the smoke of the fire that we spark.

Breathe with me.

I want you to love me like you know you can lose me.

But you never plan on letting go.

Love me with everything you've got to lose.

Thank you.