This is me
Because I am
I was the one exiled from the classroom
My knees pressed to the concrete
My head bowed
Ashamed that I am
Because I am
I was the one handed shame disguised as discipline
Handed fear
Told it was help
Shrank me into pain
Carved insults into my growing mind
Spoke curses over a child
A child who only knew how to be herself
Foolish, I think
To be punished
For being different
Foolish, to suffer
For being alive
Foolish, to beat a child
For simply being whole
Foolish, to hurt me
For simply being me
Foolish
That’s what I call the classrooms
Where different was mistaken for defiant
Foolish
The teachers who feared
Who they did not try to understand
Tried to control
Who was never theirs to contain
Foolish
Because still
I remain
I am
PIECESBYRUTH 