When he is making a serious point, his brow furrows. MUSTAFA SITS IN the public library just outside Regent Park.

It was called 'Sick and Tired.' I remember the beginning.

'I said, 'I'll write one right now.' And I wrote one during the period. 'She just said, 'Are you sure you wrote it? Are you sure?' ' Mustafa says. 'I didn't want to look like an idiot,' she would explain later. By himself.īut then, back in class, she decided she had to make sure. Yes, insisted his Grade 7 language teacher, Marjorie Malcolm. Mustafa, who specializes in spoken word, performed 'A Single Rose,' a pleading poem about life in Canada's largest housing project. That is what happened at a Nelson Mandela Park Public School assembly in the fall. He writes poems that make white adults cry – this is what happened at the Hot Docs film festival – and other black students jump to their feet and clap. He writes poems about the value of education and the importance of trust. He writes poems about poverty in Africa, where his family is from, and poverty in Regent Park, where he has lived his entire life. People tend to give him standing ovations. He has close-cropped hair and a gap-toothed grin. Mustafa Ahmed wears sneakers, jeans and T-shirts.

Mustafa ahmed