On the track
There exists eight lanes
One is for the person who has
A time so high they must be relegated to the back
It is only fair,
Why should the hare be placed before the turtle?
Two is for the people who are not far behind
Those who are placed in one.
They are not the strongest
But most certainly are not the weakest runners
Those in Two have privilege
If One is the Elephant
Then Two is the Gorrilla
Three are the people
Just above you and me
They have power
But there is a big gap between Two and Three
They’re fast runners without the stamina
Four and Five
Is where most of us belong
Atleast those with athleticism
You can’t get in these lanes without it
I apologize
Six, Seven, and Eight
Exists for those who don’t have
The athleticism we bare
So there is some remedy for your problem
A dose of relief for your struggle
You see the track is made for equity
Though now there is some notion
That equity is bad
Yet if you saw it on the track
You’d understand why it exists
Is it unreasonable to assume
One gives more water to lilies then cacti?
And therefore is it unreasonable to assume
One who is slower should be placed in a higher lane?
There is a lack of intellect
For those who believe
That the starting line should be at the same spot
Forgetting that the faster runners
Already have the better opportunity
It is not making them any slower
It is leveling the playing field
Those who say that the playing field shouldn’t be leveled
Are Incomprehensibly dull
Perhaps the D.E.I they are worried about
Should be the fact that we DIDN’T Examine Intellect,
Specifically theirs
Yet insults won’t get us anywhere
So as the Track garners cracks
Uplifting from the dirt it is built on
Thanks to the egerous shouts
Of the onlookers from the bleachers
Who state I shouldn’t be offered
The same opportunity in this race
I know that I am no longer welcomed on this Track
But now I have no opportunity but to race
With the hope that the Track will still be there after me
So On Your Mark
Get Set
Go
Geo Green
Artist Statement
Words scatter like runners seeking their lanes, the fragmented text becomes a field where characters wrestle with their own battles while sidelines rally for their success. As we envision a more accessible and fair world, which path do we choose: do we go up, down or sideways?
Young Chicago Authors
Young Chicago Authors offers high-quality programs that nurture artistic development, social-emotional learning, and academic success through poetry and performance. Its Rooted & Radical Youth Poetry Festival is the largest of its kind in the world, gathering over 200 youth poets from across Chicago, Chicago-land, and Northwest Indiana. The festival centers storytelling over competition and fosters listening, empathy, and creative risk. The ten poets featured here advanced through the 2025 festival and offered lines that were impossible to ignore.
Poetry Foundation
This program is made possible with support from the Poetry Foundation, which amplifies poetry and celebrates poets by fostering spaces for all to create, experience, and share poetry.
