Ramsey Arteaga brought a message Tuesday to the Kent City Council<\/a>, in verse.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Arteaga, a recent graduate of Kent-Meridian High School <\/a>with plans to attend Green River Community College<\/a>, recited a poem he wrote concerning drug abuse.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Mayor Suzette Cooke said she met Arteaga and added she was, \u201cso impressed by his work that was on display and his poem.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Arteaga said the poem was inspired by the difficulties in his life and the effect drugs and alcohol have had on members of his family.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cBasically, I want to keep kids off drugs,\u201d Arteaga said. \u201cI want to lead them to a better path. I thought it might be something they could relate to.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Arteaga said he hopes to become a counselor after attending college.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Cheri Ayres-Graves, a member of the Solid Rock Community Church that meets at Kentwood High, said Arteaga has been an inspiration.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cHe has a passion to keep going through difficult odds,\u201d Ayres-Graves said. \u201cHe has a passion to tell people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Poem<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n By Ramsey Arteaga<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Another day in the life of staying high<\/p>\n<\/p>\n is just another day rolling by.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I understand taking a hit of that Mary Jane<\/p>\n<\/p>\n is a high you can\u2019t resist,<\/p>\n<\/p>\n but dang it\u2019s got me so pissed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n You see your folks can\u2019t take anymore,<\/p>\n<\/p>\n so what are you doing this for.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n You say drugs help ease your mind,<\/p>\n<\/p>\n brothers, sisters please take a moment and just freeze.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Bro and sis, some advice, live on a natural high,<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I\u2019m telling you this because you\u2019ve got potential,<\/p>\n<\/p>\n but this potential you don\u2019t see<\/p>\n<\/p>\n because the drugs got you so possessed,<\/p>\n<\/p>\n and it\u2019s got me so depressed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It\u2019s like a dark cloud over my head.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I go to bed and pray that you\u2019re not dead.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Check this out,<\/p>\n<\/p>\n when I grow up I want to be poetic,<\/p>\n<\/p>\n learn the ABCs and become alphabetic.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Get kids and pray for them to become athletic.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I hope they don\u2019t do drugs it\u2019s so pathetic.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n So remember to live life on a natural high,<\/p>\n<\/p>\n cause I don\u2019t want to see another minute pass you by.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n My poem is over now so clap as I take a bow,<\/p>\n<\/p>\n and remember drugs is what I disallow.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ramsey Arteaga brought a message Tuesday to the Kent City Council, in verse.
\nArteaga, a recent graduate of Kent-Meridian High School with plans to attend Green River Community College, recited a poem he wrote concerning drug abuse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":215,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-4378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4378"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/215"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4378\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4378"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=4378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}