Never Enough - By: Samantha Johnson

When I’m not doing anything or not taking the

time to do nothing

it feels like

I’m not productive enough.

I shouldn’t be thinking about this

at 16

yet something in me

makes me wanna hustle since I

want it badly too

but i also feel like

I’m tryna go too fast

too early

sometimes it feels like i’m

not going fast enough

despite doing so much

to keep me learning

and growing.

What am I supposed to be doing?

at 16

When I can’t think of anything to write

or I don’t write down my thoughts freely

it feels like

I’m not creative enough.

i seem to be letting myself down

more than the words I neglect.

i am a writer

i can write

i just can’t write it down

right

right now

i need to be doing something else

or whatever im supposed to be doing

at 16

Please give a detailed explanation about the meaning and main idea of this poem.

When you're learning and growing so much, but in your head you don't feel like you're doing enough, so you keep doing more. Where you feel like you're behind because you're so ambitious and you want to do more. To learn, to grow, to improve yourself. I wanted to write about teenaged ambition and the parallels between being a hustler at a very young age, versus just enjoying your life and not overthinking it while you're still so young.

Please explain your writing and thought process regarding this poem.

This poem began with just writing down my thoughts. Reminding myself that I don't need to go so fast, but also feeling the need to go faster. I made this poem look like my thoughts: there aren't many periods, my thoughts just keep going. The first and second parts were actually written on seperate days, and i read them both over and over again. I was very reflective, I had to make sure it could represent my complex emotions in plain writing.

Why did you choose to write this poem?

I usually write when I feel strongly about something, so I can document an era of my life, thoughts, and perspectives. Writing is one of the ways I'm able to get my emotions out of my head, so I can reflect on it and let it go, eventually.