I Scream and Shout But No One Hears

I scream and shout but no one hears. no one. not one damned one. Teachers do not hear, because I have taken their class hostage. My peers are afraid of me, yet, not half as afraid as I am. I smile as they shirk from me. makes me powerful. maybe for the first time. I have taken my class hostage with my angry ways and my sage solid meanness. The neighbors do not care because they hate my mother. we are on the Christmas lists. we get better presents than other kids. we destroy them and throw them in the yard. angry they are not enough. We get designer clothes, because we have to. It validates us. It makes my mother happy. She is a booster. She gets them for free. Sure, she goes to jail sometimes. but she does not care. We are defiant, resilient, glad to be in our family. jail ain't all bad. I strive to get there some day. They feed you there, and you have a pillow and a place to sleep every single night. The cops do not care. They hate my family, especially my mother. She spits at them, bares her teeth. We see her on the news and we cheer. I am proud. I want to show the video at school, so my friends can see. They think I am bad? Look at my mother. I scream and shout, but no one hears. Because I do it in silence. Written 9-8-2018 Unsheath Your Sword Poetry Contest Sponsor: John Lawless