the educational system

the floor is hard against my feet.

the carpet is not carpet- instead it is a thin layer of fabric over a hard wooden floor

veiled to hide the cheap character of those put in charge of our educational system.

i look at the walls-

cream-colored bricks.

cracked like the cracks in my mental health

from memorizing hundreds of vocab words

writing hundreds of essays

spending hundreds of hours sitting in a hard seat

unable to leave.

the cracks in the brick grow larger as the year progresses

just like the cracks in my mind do.

the room is too hot in the summer

and too cold in the winter

as if it's not important enough to keep our hands from shaking with cold

or to keep our sweat from dripping on our homework.

it is much more important to make sure girls don't distract teenage boys with their shoulders or short skirts

or keeping track of how long kids are in the bathroom.

so i'll just sit here

and wait for the day i walk across that stage

radiant in red and black

and collect my "get out of jail free" card

so i no longer have to feel

this hard floor against my feet.