Thirteen by Caleb Femi - AQA

• Thirteen by Caleb Femi was published in 2020 in Femi's first poetry collection called Poor.

• Through poetry and photography, Femi draws on his own upbringing to explore what influences Black boys growing up in areas of deprivation in the 21st century.

• In the prologue to Poor, Femi describes it as "an ode to a troubled yet enchanted world, and to the Black boys raised in it”.

• The poem Thirteen is about a young Black boy being stopped by the police.

In the poetry section of your English Literature exam, you will be asked to compare two poems. Listen to this podcast to hear an example of how you could approach this task.

In this episode, writer and rapper Testament and guest poet and writer Dean Atta compare the themes, wider social issues and form of Thirteen by Caleb Femi and Like An Heiress by Grace Nichols.

Listen on BBC Sounds

Context

Caleb Femi was born in Nigeria but moved to London when he was around seven years old. He grew up in a housing estate in North Peckham.

Femi was an English teacher at a school in Tottenham, London, before he became a film-maker, photographer and poet.

In 2016, he was the first ever young people’s poet laureate for London. As poet laureate, his role was to inspire young people to love poetry, as well as advise on issues and priorities for young people's literature.

The poem

Thirteen is based on a real experience that Femi had when he was 13 years old.

It tells the story of a young boy who is four minutes away from home when he is stopped by two police officers. They say he fits the description of a man who has just committed a robbery in the area. The boy laughs and tells them that he is only 13 years old.

In the second stanza, the boy recognises one of the officers. He remembers him visiting his primary school in the past and calling the pupils "little stars" and “supernovas”. He tries to smile to remind the officer that they’ve met before.

In the final stanza, the boy feels frightened and asks the officers if they remember giving an assembly at his primary school. He then remembers his teacher telling the class that supernovas are actually dying stars.

Reflecting on the experience in an interview, Femi has said: “What was really striking about that moment for me was this sense of not being afforded the privilege – not even the privilege, the fact – of being a kid.”

One interpretation of Thirteen is that it explores structural racism. Structural racism refers to laws or rules that support continued harmful treatment of some people, based on race. It can result in unfair disadvantages for some and unfair advantages for others.

Although never stated, it is implied that the police stop the boy because of his skin colour. Femi says the boy is “cornered”, “patted” on the shoulder and told that he fits the description of a “man” despite being only 13 years old.

A government study between 2021 and 2022, revealed statistics showing that, in England and Wales, Black individuals were stopped and searched by police officers significantly more than any other ethnic group. Femi could be reflecting on this in Thirteen and drawing attention to the experiences of Black boys.

It could also be suggested that the police officers in Thirteenadultify the boy because they treat him as older than he is. It is again implied that this is due to his skin colour, possibly highlighting once more the impact of structural racism on young Black boys.

You can listen to writer, rapper and poet Testament, and poet and writer Dean Atta, discussing their personal experiences of being stopped and searched on this BBC Bitesize podcast.

In Thirteen, there is a juxtaposition between how the police officer treated the boy in primary school, compared to how he is treating the boy as a teenager.

• In primary school, the police officer smiled and said that the children were “supernovas” suggesting that they were bright, explosive and full of energy: “the biggest and brightest stars”.

• Afterwards, the children learnt that supernovas are in fact “dying stars / on the verge of becoming black holes” which suggests a darker, less optimistic path for their futures.

The police officer’s approach to the boy now that he has reached adolescence, could reflect racial inequalities and prejudices found in wider society.

In Thirteen, the boy seems to feel that the police officers misuse their power by stopping and searching him and denying him the right to walk home in peace.

Femi suggests that the boy also feels his power taken away as he imagines himself through the police officers’ eyes as “powerless – plump”. Femi writes, “You will watch the two men cast lots for your organs” suggesting that the boy feels dehumanised. He imagines the officers are viewing him more like an object or a prize to be claimed and shared out. He seems to feels completely at their mercy.

In an interview, Femi explains how this is a reflection on the “general lack of a sense of relationship between the community and the police” that he observed growing up.

Language is anything to do with words and the way they are used.

Negative semantic field

There is a negative semantic field throughout the poem which could mirror the boy’s negative feelings about the interaction. For instance, “powerless”, “fear” and “dying”.

This contrasts with the positive language which is used when the boy remembers his past in primary school: “stars”, “horizon”, “brightest” and “warmth”.

Femi might use these juxtaposing semantic fields to contrast the dream the boy was sold about his potential, with the reality of facing racial prejudice as a teenager.

Extended metaphor

When the police officer visited the primary school, the boy remembers him using metaphors to describe the children. He called them “supernovas” and “stars” implying that they have bright futures ahead of them.

The boy then learns from his teacher that supernovas are “dying stars/on the verge of becoming black holes.” This extends the metaphor, but could suggest a more negative future for the children and perhaps that the police officer may have been purposefully misleading in his praise.

It could be seen to foreshadow the racism that the boy experiences in the poem once he becomes a teenager.

In poetry, structure is anything to do with layout and organisation.

Future tense

Thirteen is written in the future tense. The future tense is used to talk about things that haven't happened yet, for example:

You will be four minutes from home
when you are cornered.

The modal verb “will” suggests certainty. Femi uses it repeatedly throughout the poem, perhaps to express his experience of the inevitability of being stopped by police if you’re Black and male.

Rhetorical questions

A rhetorical question is a question asked for effect with no answer expected.

Femi uses two examples of rhetorical questions in the poem:

• “You fit the description of a man?”

• “Don’t you remember me?”

These questions show the boy’s shock and confusion throughout his interaction with the police officers.

After the first rhetorical question, in the first stanza, the boy laughs in disbelief. By the second one, in the final stanza, the boy’s disbelief has turned to fear as he realises that the police officers are serious about the interrogation and do not remember him.

Repetition

In the first stanza, the word “thirteen” is repeated twice:

Thirteen, you’ll tell him: you’re thirteen.

This repetition contrasts with the police officer’s use of the word “man”. It helps to emphasise one of the key messages that the poem could be trying to convey - that Black boys are sometimes seen as older by the police and so stopped and searched more.

Form refers to the type of poem that the writer chose to write.

Second person

Second person means that the speaker or writer speaks directly to the person or character they are addressing.

Femi's use of second person in Thirteen helps to create closeness. It is as though he is speaking directly to the reader using the pronoun “you”. This helps to create empathy as the reader is placed in the boy’s position and encouraged to imagine how unfair the situation might feel.

Femi’s use of second person also encourages the reader to question who the speaker actually is. Perhaps Femi wanted to deliberately create the feeling that this sort of interaction could happen to anyone, and explore how it makes young Black men feel to face prejudice.

Free verse

Femi’s use of free verse in Thirteen makes the poem feel more like everyday speech, which is not restricted by rhythm or rhyme. It could mirror how the boy might recount the story to friends or family after the event.

This effect is emphasised by the use of enjambment which creates a sense of urgency and of being overwhelmed as the boy’s thoughts spill over each line. For example:

You will show the warmth of your teeth
praying he remembers the heat of your supernova

One event follows another in quick succession, making it obvious how little time the boy is given to process what is happening to him. In the first line he is nearly home, but by the fifth line he is being accused of being a grown-up criminal.

Femi’s use of direct speech, shown in italics, could also be seen to help create a feeling of authenticity and realism.

Remember

• Read the question carefully. Highlight the key words and focus of the question.

• Make a plan. Annotate the poem or create a short list of points you could make, supported by evidence. This will help you to stay focused and relevant.

• Analyse features. When you identify a feature, always consider why it has been used and what effect it creates.

• Reread your answer. Keep checking that you are on topic throughout the writing process.

Making comparisons

You will need to write your response using comparative connectives, such as:

• Similarly

• Likewise

• However

• In contrast

In the exam

This poem could be assessed in the anthology poetry part of the exam.

You will be asked to compare a named poem with a poem of your choice. The choice must be from the cluster of poems you have studied.

The named poem will be provided.

This question assesses AO1, AO2 and AO3:

Test your understanding of the poem Thirteen by taking this quiz.