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November 3, 2024

If I Was President

Hamza Mohamed

If I was president
I would help people
and be a good representative
and not lose to profanity
as people stay repetitive
The news would report neatly
as the issues stay relevant
We won’t slack again
I’ll be there for rebuttal
We will get started in a position
of greatness, which is ever so nice
So I’m willing to take risks for the
country and roll the dice
but as for a poetic melody
the world is full of treachery
mile to mile betrayal shall
stay under me, I’ll be
the role model, the one
to step up as I must
We win as we stand and forever
God we trust.

From Let This Be Our Anthem: Call to Action from Young Writers to the Next President (826 National, 2024). Copyright © 2024 826 National. Used with the permission of the author. Published in Poem-a-Day on November 3, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.

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“I wrote this poem because of my current views on the United States presidency. What inspired me the most was the feeling that you can change a person’s view. Upon realizing this, I decided to write ‘If I Was President’ to help show others what I would change if I were ever in charge of a country. The choices of a people who govern our nation are not always favorable to everybody. I tried to put myself in the shoes of those who aren’t heard to voice my thoughts on what could be changed in our society and what could be left behind. I thought about young people like me in the future, and I thought about what ideas I would have for society.”
—Hamza Mohamed

Hamza Mohamed is an eighth-grade writer from Minneapolis. He is a member of 826 MSP’s After-School Writing Lab and Young Authors’ council programs.

Let This Be Our Anthem: Call to Action from Young Writers to the Next President
(826 National, 2024)

“Based on a prompt from New York Times bestselling author Javier Zamora, students share their stories, personal histories, and thoughts on the issues that matter most to them. This book represents a collective call to action, with pieces ranging from personal anecdotes about the life of a student in the United States to poems about the American Dream to well-researched articles on major social and political issues.” Learn more at 826national.org.

About this special edition of Poem-a-Day

Hamza Mohamed’s poem “If I Was President” is featured in Poem-a-Day as part of a collaboration between the Academy of American Poets and 826 National, the largest youth writing network in the country, amplifying the impact of youth writing and publishing centers and the voices of young authors. In Let This Be Our Anthem: Call to Action from Young Writers to the Next President, students, ages eight to eighteen, raise issues that matter most to them and write directly to the next president of the United States.

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Poem-a-Day - "If I Was President" by Hamza Mohamed

If I Was President

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