Les plus lus ▸
Dave Bonta
school used to be a time of lead
I was sworn to answer present
the grammar of children is an old shop
found in a new place
a rose on ice
the children go away
to school tomorrow
All this vexing afternoon
with a child crying
at school—
I am he.
the sun was a letter
of the alphabet then
my stomach could pronounce it
better than my mouth
on the walk to school through
two centuries of wreckage
past a ghost village
and the end of town eaten
by the interstate
along train tracks we knew
to get off of when
they started to hum
up over the wooded hill
in the center of town
with its water tank and cemetery
past hidden rooms
I grew up with a woodstove
instead of a TV. I know all
the theme songs of oak.
If I could unlearn
the names of the birds,
how much freer their flight!
In a dream, I run
through my half-remembered high school
to catch a bus.
Fuck it.
I'm sick of staying quiet.
Silence is for when I'm hiding something from my family,
Not my friends.
Just don't make a face or laugh or insult.
Dude, I have a crush on you.
Stop talking to me if you want.
I don't care.
I'm sick of talking and feeling like I'm just annoying you.
You give off the 'I hate this' vibe sometimes.
Well....
Almost all the time.
Sometimes I feel like you don't mind.
Like the time I walked over after the math test,
And I watched your face change into a smile.
Made me feel good,
I have 13 poems about you-
That's definitely way too much.
Good thing you terrify me,
Or I'd let you read them all during lunch.
Maybe I should share some-
Is this number 14?
This is how I know
With you I have a thing.
If I thought I was in love
With anybody the past 2 grades,
This is my wake-up slap.
Hey, can you never go away?
Has anyone told you you're cool?
No, I bet they don't
Cause I'm the only one who sees you.
It's a shame I'm all alone
Shy as can be
With no friends
Everyone in Elementary
Laughed and called him names
Not one was nice
There was a little gentle man
The same boy as before
Now in Junior High
But still no friends
More hateful people
But blocked it out from the music in his headphones
There was a gentle man
Same a before
Now in High School
Still treated like crap
But more and more
She walks across the school campus,
She crys,
Blood drips down her arm,
She wonders how no one sees her,
The school is full of people,
She doesnt notice.....
I see her,
Others see her,
I want to help her,
They want to help her,
She walks away.....
We cry for her,
We wish we could have helped her,
But its too late...
Shes gone.
As of the first day,
Cliques are formed,
The bullies and jocks,
Geeks and band nerds,
Slammed into the lockers,
Fearing the halls,
Forced to do the bullies’ homework,
Getting pushed against a wall,
The teasing is constant,
Hatred and enemies result,
The principal wanting to stay out of the way,
Fearful, having been bullied in the past,
When their faces aren’t buried in the books,
They become hesitant,
Indecisive,
Irrelevant,
The days go past
And we don't speak;
We don't write;
We don't chat.
When I am at school,
You are at home.
But when we do talk,
It's just like the old days;
Like it always was.
We pick up where we left off.
Because time doesn't matter;
Distance doesn't matter,
When we're connected by hearts.
For that reason,
We'll always be best friends.
Was rough
I was teased
I was raped
I was pregnant
I was made fun of
I was left out
I was trouble in school
I was abused by alot of men
I was handcuffed a few times
I was never arrested
I never had any friends
I went to a special needs school
I had fights everyday
I had a miscarriage
I lost alot of loved ones
I had alot going on