Poetry Reading Response Draft // Please Don't Take My Air Jordans by Reg E. Gaines

             As a child, I grew up being taught that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover; that it’s what’s on the inside that counts. But after reading the poem “Please Don’t Take My Air Jordans” by Reg E. Gaines, I was reminded that our society isn’t quite like what my younger self thought it to be. Rather than not judging books by their covers, Gaines shows us that in today’s world, it’s what’s on the outside that counts.

            “Please Don’t Take My Air Jordans” is a very honest poem. We see it on the streets, the news, and even in ourselves- greed. It seems as though a person can never have enough of anything, always consuming more and more to make themselves feel more powerful. More possessions mean more money and more fulfilling power. “When I’m wearing fresh gear I don’t have to hide,” (Gaines 16). Fresh gear, or expensive clothing, is a major confidence and power booster. The main character thinks that if he looks good, then he will be targeted as being of a higher ranking than other people. And it’s true. It doesn’t matter what he says or thinks or what’s inside of him- people will respect him based solely off of his appearance. The speaker states, “Gotta do what I can to make sure I look good,” (Gaines 12), which again illustrates the point being that what we can see about a person is greater than what we can’t.

            Near the end of the poem, readers are left with a shocking scene, wherein the protagonist of the poem shoots a stranger in order to get a pair of expensive Air Jordans. Since he doesn’t have enough money to buy them himself, he takes his greed and hunger for power to its full extent by murdering a poor man for shoes. “I killed to get them but hey… I don’t care / cuz now… I needs a new jacket to wear.” (Gaines 55-56). It’s mind blowing that someone could do such a thing, and simply for the sake of their self-image. It’s completely awful and wrong. And the reality of it is, things like this happen. People want to look good, and however unfortunate it may be, they will hurt others to get what they want. Advertisements, commercials and magazines full of pretty people and adoring faces can cause people to think that if they wear rich clothing and make themselves look glamorous, others will think them to be glamorous people. No one wants to be made to look poor. It’s all about looks. If you can look it, you can be it. Because we are a society that judges books by their covers.

            This poem made me realize that our world has become more caught up in how we look on the outside instead of what we are on the inside. Is this really what we’ve come down to? Our appearances? What happened to our thoughts, our ideas, our feelings, our imaginations, and our hearts? If we are what we look like, then what are we?