"Between Classes"
by Sophia Joseph (8th)
For those of us who don’t know the answer before we are taught
That is not our fault and maybe, we haven't raised our hands
Not because we haven’t “paid attention” but because
We don’t know the answer
For those of us who are told
The math we were taught is wrong, because we didn’t show our work
Told we can try harder, get better
Work to meet expectations set by those who think its easy
When it's not
For those of us who are sick of hearing
That if you tried and only got a C
That you are ok
But that they just “know” that you aren’t trying
For those of us who need more than to just work until our brains hurt
Who write til our hands cramp
But never seem to learn
Or maybe we aren’t being taught everything we need
The teachers give homework every night
And just because they can’t teach we have bad grades
And for those of us who could have turned it in
But our time to finish is wasted on listening
To endless discussion
About how easy it is
Its really
Not
Our blistered hands carry our load, skin rubbed raw
Five minutes between classes
Race from one side of the school to the other
Panting hard
“I hope I’m not late to class
I hope I don’t spill my books
Because we can’t have our backpacks
That would make it too easy
I wonder how nice it is
When the halls are dark
And the lockers are empty”
Day dreaming
Head screaming
Tears streaming
Can’t wait
Until we’re leaving