Temporary Placements (Poetry)

By Marlanda Dekine, LMSW

(Editor's Note: The poem, Temporary Placements, is Track 10. If your device is playing a different track, please click the small arrows at bottom right of the embedded player above to go to Track 10. Thank you.)

ABOUT THE POEM: The poem, Temporary Placements, is meant to be jarring to those who hear it and hopefully incite an attitude of motivation, transformation, and self-worth in its listeners/readers.  It was written following a therapy session that I had with a young boy during which he was informed that, due to neglect issues, he would not be returning home for an inevitable amount of time. The poem is to encourage those in the field of social work and the clients that we serve that they are as special and unique as the "turtles" mentioned in the poem.  

ABOUT THE POET: Marlanda Dekine, also known as Sapient Soul, is a Licensed Master Social Worker from Spartanburg, South Carolina.  She has her B.A. in psychology from Furman University and her MSW from the University of South Carolina. She currently serves as the Program Director of the Children's Advocacy Center in Spartanburg.  She is also the Co-Director of Spoken Word Spartanburg (www.spokenwordspartanburg.com), a nonprofit organization merging the spoken word/slam poetry art form and community activism.  She is a traveling, competitive slam poet who has been featured and competed all over the nation, and she has two spoken word albums available on Bandcamp, I Bring  You Truth (2006) and SOULidifying Borrowed Concepts (2013).