THEY TAUGHT ME

(Poem by Luke W. Henderson. Lettering by Tom Lynnott, Illustrated by CGhirardo)

I was told that April is International Poetry Month so what better way to recognize it than by having a poem comic. However, while my webcomics are written by me, this comic is a poem by fellow Comic Jammer

Luke W. Henderson Twitter/Instagram: @lukewhendersonm Linktr.ee/lukewhenderson ,

illustrated by me Twitter: @cghirardo Instagram: @cghirardo64 and lettered by another fellow Comic Jammer

Tom Lynnott Twitter: @tjlynott Online Portfolio https://tomlynottcomiclettering.myportfolio.com/

I’ll let Luke tell you his thoughts about his poem:

I remember the exact moment I first heard the music of Jarad Higgins, better known as Juice WRLD. I was riding in the back of a truck on the way to a job and his song ‘Lucid Dreams’ came on the radio. I’ve always loved hip-hop, but this wasn’t like anything I’d heard before. Most of these songs are about coming up from unfortunate circumstances and flashing their wealth in a way that is celebratory. In contrast, ‘Lucid Dreams’ is about a young man laying his heart bare while reminiscing about a bad breakup. The song is incredibly emotional and honest, displaying Juice’s intense sorrow, anger, and guilt at the situation. It’s how all of his songs are written. He was so open about his depression and addictions showing incredible self-awareness and emotional depth for someone so young. It became one of my comforts when I felt the world crushing me.

Sadly, Juice WRLD left this world six days after his 21st birthday. After having his tour plane stopped by police, he downed all of the drugs in his pocket fearing what would happen to him in prison or at the hands of the police. The world lost a prolific artist who had a lot of life left to live. The US’ poor treatment of black men, people with mental illnesses, and addicts pushed a young man to take his own life rather than be at the mercy of a vicious incarceration system. Juice’s death devastated me and for a while, I had a lot of trouble finding the right way to pay tribute to an artist who meant so much to me. ‘They Taught Me’ finally felt like it had everything I wanted to say and properly said ‘thank you’ to Juice WRLD.

I thank Claudio Ghirardo and Tom Lynott for taking the leap on making this comic and expressing even more than my words did alone.

PS. I hope I did honor to Luke’s poem.