Poetry Reading Response

     Many people enjoy looking presentable and showing off their new things to their friends. Many people also enjoy being recognized by others in a positive way. Reading, "Please Don't Take My Air Jordans," by Reg E. Gaines, made me realize that people are becoming very materialistic nowadays with their clothing items and they only care about themselves because of the expectations that society has. Societies expectations have taken it to the point where all people care about is their looks and how they present themselves.


     In the poem, the first stanza consist of the brands the speaker owns. All the speaker cares about is how he looks. "My air jordans cost a hundred with tax / My suede starters jacket says raiders on the back /  I'm stylin... smilin... lookin real mean cuz / it ain't about being heard just bein seen". This shows that the speaker only cares about his appearance and what he has that makes him look good. He only cares about name brands and the opinion of others. Basically, the speakers main focus is to look good and maybe even better than others.

     The speaker only cares about other peoples opinions versus what he really should be focusing on. He, the speaker, is willing to steal clothes because his 'gear' isn't up to par like his friends. "But I really must get some new gear soon / or my ego will pop like a ten cent balloon / but security's tight at all the shops / everyday theres more and more cops / my crews laughin at me cuz I'm wearing old gear / school's almost over summer is near / and I'm sportin torn jordans and need somethin new / theres only one thing left to do" All the speaker was worried about is what makes him look good considering he is willing to steal clothes to get what he wants. He doesn't have to do things like this but his peers expect him to wear nice clothes and be up to the standards.

     Materialism has been taken to a whole other level because after the speaker had shot his victim, the victim wasn't worried about saving his own life. That wasn't his first thought to mind like it should've been. "Took off fast but didn't get far / I fired (POW) he fell between two parked cars / he was coughing/crying/blood dripped on the street / and I snatched them air jordans off his feet / while layin there dyin all he could say was / please... don't take my air jordans away... you think he'd be worried about stayin alive / so I took off with the jordans there were tears in his eyes." This clearly shows that people one, only care about themselves(the speaker) and two, safety isn't something that comes to mind. The victim wasn't really concerned with his life, just his expensive sneakers.

    After reading this poem, I realized that Jordan's symbolize value. To a lot of people it makes them feel and look good that you attract others. All people care about is the clothes that they have and what makes them look better than the next person. It's not always right, the way they go about this process of being better than others, but they don't care. Society has played an even bigger role in this. Nowadays, the expectations that society carries are to look presentable and have expensive clothes. But you don't have to have expensive clothes to look good all the time. It's not impossible to look good without a pair of stolen Jordans and a fake Gucci backpack.