I've been tutoring an eighth grade girl for four hours a day for the past two weeks. She's needs a little help staying focused and organized; but she's a great girl. Yesterday, she cried because other kids were making fun of her new hair (which I loved, btw). So today, I wrote her this poem. I think it's meant to be spoken, but here it is:
Poem for Cleara
I am aware of who I am,
I am not scared of who I am;
I looked myself in the mirror,
Faced my demons and my fear,
Looked at my eyebrows and my hair,
And I made peace.
Because why should I lie for you,
And why should I cry for you?
Why should I feel bad about myself because you tell me to?
Why should I pay attention to the stupid things that you do?
You listen but don't hear me,
Look at me but don't see me,
Walk by me don't know
What it means to be me.
So don't pretend;
Because I know that I'm not,
I'm aware of what I've got,
What I am and what I'm not.
Because I've looked in a mirror,
Faced my demons and my fear;
And now I can raise my gaze from the floor,
Stand my ground, look at you and roar,
"I am not afraid of you anymore."
2 comments:
I hope she hangs it on her wall; it seems like exactly what she needed.
Middle school is the worst, but you're the best, so it evens out.
(I think you know the lines that aren't the strongest, and I trust your intuition for it to just take one edit to clear it up. Plus, I hate being critical in places like blog comments. Plus, I think you're just a great poet so I feel weird saying critical things. The end.)
oooooh lovely!!!:)
xx
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