Education Needed

When a classroom talks,

It’s like a babbling brook,

And the indifference for the teacher’s efforts

Sounds bubbly, but slowly threatens to drown me-

Because when I hear our disregard for education

I see the children of another nation,

I see the 12 year old girl

Who can’t be a doctor,

Because her father and mother have already sold her off to another,

So her future was taken from her.

She weaves a net of dreams

But there are too many holds to catch someone’s eye

She doesn’t understand why

Her birthplace leaves her faced

With the rough embrace of an older man she’s never met

Her family can’t eat, yet

And this exchange of girl for life

Is a gift wrapped in paper of dead ends

Her parents remind themselves

That an unhappy daughter is better than a dead one.

So they sign the contract,

Draw the dotted line through their little girl’s dreams

With an unavoidable certainty

That left no breath in their lungs.

So when I see that little girl,

When I think of her family

And the people that surround me

Are blatantly ignoring their education

And I see that other nation

I feel a build-up of frustration-

Then I let it go,

I face the front

I sigh

I learn

They won’t.