I’m in this school with so many students
I have to do what’s right, and be prudent
Some days I take a deep breath and let out a sigh
Other days the tears well up in my eye
They just don’t get it, Why we are here
They think we’re strange and don’t want us to be near
They’re in school, but they feel they’re in jail
They don’t want to be here, they want to sail
They don’t like the rules, the rules are hated
They don’t want to be walked in the halls or have their behavior rated
Sometimes I ask myself, “Is it worth it”
Perhaps I should just get a lobotomy kit
Take out my brain, so I don’t feel the pain
Or the energy drain. The emotions that always wax and wane
The hurt of their words and their disregard
It feels like glass, like a really sharp shard
I’m not one of them, I’m a different being
They don’t see us as humans, we’re just weird ol’ things
My alarm goes off and I don’t want to wake
It’s sickness that I want to fake
Why should I go to suffer again and again?
Trying to make a difference is a big problem
Instead, I sit here and write
And continue to fight the fight
To quell the anger and frustration I feel
To not get in the car and make the wheels squeal
It would be so easy to leave and go somewhere else
Just go home and take a book off the shelf
But I stay because it is my hope
That our words will help them cope
Perhaps their eyes will open on one bright day
And out of their mouths they’ll say,
“Our teachers cared for us, now I can see,
They only wanted us to act responsibly.
They wanted us to be good and properly act
They expected the best, and that’s a fact.”
+Tammy M - educator, artist