Lamont

Lamont had never been to a poetry slam, let alone performed his work in one. You’d never be able to tell from the two pieces that earned him first place in the Covenant House Michigan Poetry Slam. When Lamont stood in front of the mic, he immediately captured his audience with his poem, “I Asked God”— a personal look at his struggles with contentment – and with his contagious smile as he bowed off the stage.

The 22-year-old has beaten the odds many times in his young life. When Lamont was 12, he entered the foster care system because his Mom’s mental illness prevented her from raising him and his sister. He bounced from home to home, but instead of letting his circumstances defeat him, he mustered strength to complete high school and join the military.

As Lamont’s time at Covenant House is ending, he’s looking for ways that he can give back and help other at-risk kids get on their feet. “When you’ve never been there you can’t understand what it’s like to have to sleep on the street. I can say, ‘Look, I’ve actually been there.”

I Asked God
By Lamont Fountain

I asked God why I wasn’t rich,
He showed me a rich king who was lonely and had no one to share his riches with.

I asked God why I wasn’t beautiful,
He showed me a woman whose beauty surpassed all others but was ugly because of her vanity.

I asked God why I wasn’t smarter,
He showed me a genius who was doing life in prison for making ill use
of his knowledge.

I asked God why I didn’t have a bigger house,
He showed me a family of seven who was evicted from their tiny shack and forced to live on the streets.

I asked God why did I have to grow old and wither away,
He showed me a six year-old boy who lay dead at the scene of a car accident.

I asked God why my mother no longer cares for me,
He showed me a man who loved me so much he died that I might live.

I knew then how much he loved me.

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