Lunch in the 7th grade + cinquaine

[skywise]

My plastic yellow lunch tray
clanks
on the white cafeteria table
as I sit down with my
friends.

They’re huddled together,
snickering,
and watching a chubby boy
with glasses and freckles named
Blaine.

He must notice because he looks very
nervous
as he makes his way toward our table
and sets his own lunch tray down with a
clank.

My friend Ryan whispers to me,
“come on”
as he and everyone else suddenly
stand and move to a different
table.

I watch Blaine fight
tears,
from a few tables away
in the comfortable company of my amused
friends.



and just for the fuck of it i'm going to include a cinquaine poem

Piercing
my dreams, tearing
me from warm contentment,
the dreadful beep of my alarm
persists.

 

[Señora Frijol]

This reminds me alot of myself. When i was in school i was afraid to stand up to my "friends". I never made fun of anyone and i always felt bad, even gossiping. But the pressure of fitting in and maintaining these friends was so important to me i never did what i felt was right. To this day i am haunted by school and bus experiences.
I did learn though. I am so proud of my own children because i have taught them the importance of being their own leader and beating their own drum. I have seen them make some very wise choices that makes my heart want to burst. I told them of these stories and how i always felt bad but didnt do anything.
I guess we have to make change when we can and how we can.