The Family Unit

Just some insight.

The Family Unit

There’s a reason I don’t write free verse

Poetry

And I only write songs

Because free verse

Poems

Are a bad form of writing for me

In songs, I can

Stick to rhyming patterns

And certain words

But with this type of poetry

Anything goes

Saying,

I’m off of my leash

And that’s dangerous

My mind and soul need a shock collar

Not for the people around me

But for myself,

If I don’t keep a tight restraint on my brain

My body might run loose and escape

And do something stupid

That ultimately

Everyone would regret

And so

Today, in Short Story Class, we started a new unit.

Introducing the Family Unit

“1. List everything you think of when you hear the word ‘family’.”

My spine shudders and my ribs crack

I can’t breath, I try to raise my hand and when she calls on me to speak

My mouth goes numb like anesthesia when they surgically remove your lower jaw

And you finally wake up

How dare she put an exercise like this in front of us

Now I have to lie my a*s off so I can keep everyone’s trust

They need to know

That the shock collar is still on

Everyone needs to know that I’m fine

I try to write how I truly feel about my family

• Deceiving

• Unreliable

• Ignorant

• Rude

• Embarrassing

• Cruel

• Self-Centered

For the sake of length, I’ll end the list there

I pictured in my mind what would happen if I wrote down the truth

The words disintegrated off of the paper

The devil whispered in my ear,

“Tell them what they want to hear”

I wrote down

Trusting

My whole hand broke

It splintered up my arm, and in agonizing pain

I grabbed my arm with my other hand

I struggled to put down the next word

Faithful

My pelvis exploded

My legs tore off

I was shaking in pain

I tried to say the teacher’s name

But I had no lower jaw

Remember?

Of course you didn’t

All I could do was sit there

And try to finish the assignment

I thought of the word

Forgiving

My brain melted

Into a pool of boiling tar
My head throbbed

I mouthed the word

Persevering

My spine lashed out of my back

And wrapped around my pencil

And threw the HB #2 Ticonderoga

Straight at my teacher

She finally looked over

And screamed

My list was done

And so was I

Persevering is the last word I’d use to describe my family

They gave up on me years ago

I lived my short life thinking I’d make it, I just had to stay strong

But a simple four-word list broke me

What a great

First period Short Story Class

Reviews

[Anika Aditi]

wow, that had a lot of feeling! thanks for sharing! i enjoyed reading your poem.

-Anika

[bringthestoke]

Thank you!