Cattle

They keep us turning down the halls like cattle Keep your eyes up Face forward No phones Stay in routine You’ve done this for so many years now No distractions Don’t look at the broken people next to you Face forward A girl at your school killed herself because of the bullying Study hard They found a bullet at a high school No phones The gun was never found Wait until the bell rings A girl was sexually assaulted No sleeping in class Keep walking, walking, walking Don’t look at the stripes lining peoples arms Stop talking while I’m teaching Don’t stare at the faint mascara streaks running down her face Turn to page 34 Stop looking at the boy who is googling how to make a pipe bomb during study hall Raise your hand How dare you talk badly about the baseball player who raped you I’ll give you assigned seats if you don’t stop talking Don’t worry about the girl who weighs 80 pounds, guidance counselors will take care of her Did I say you could talk The girl is threatening to overdose in the school bathroom What’s the answer to this problem on the board We are not watching out for our peers We are not being active enough to make a change I have woken up too many times from a nightmare of a school shooting Of a suicide Of a sexual assault These are everyday problems But our schools are deciding to ignore them Many of us are uncertain of the future Whether or not we will live to see another day Either by our own hands or someone else’s Will we have the strength to continue To not jump in front of the bullet? I can’t guarantee that I wouldn’t take that opportunity But the school keeps up moving forward Keep walking down the narrow halls Heads up No distractions Like cattle ------------------------------------------------------------- 12/12/2018 'A Sad Christmas' - December 2018 Writing Challenge - Poetry Contest Sponsored by: Dear Heart