War Zone
Do you hear the evolution
Of the revolution?
We are forming a solution
To the persistent mind-pollution
To dig up the scorning answers to this confusion,
Which has been a twisted illusion
Of the institution,
That has sent our creativity to the stage of execution.
Yet, only few seem to realize
That we shouldn’t solely see with our eyes.
Yes, this is the foundation of assumption,
Which leads young minds to the consumption
Of those nagging, tick-tocky phrases
That pound in our skulls and make our eardrums bleed!
With a persistent need
And overwhelming greed,
To scream out those ever-repellent words
That spit in the face of ingenuity
And conceal our originality.
These voices call us foreword,
One by one:
Not by name, but by number.
Where is the laughter?
Where did it go?
Who stole it in the night,
Leaving nothing, but a bitter blanket of snow?
I am so tired!
Tired of the lies and the belittlement,
Because they do not accept short, st-t-tuttery answers
With your head bowed low.
I am so tired!
Of being shoved in the corner because I am powerless
At the hands of the “educator.”
I am so tired
Of being afraid to speak up
For fear of being Wrong
Fear of being intimidated
Fear of breaking free of conformity
Fear of cutting the chains that have bound me so tightly to
The System,
Which was never tailored to fit anyone’s needs.
I sit in the back of the classroom,
Praying that I won’t be called on.
No, not me, I cannot be selected.
I do not know the information,
Yet my binder is filled with notes and I stay up until Four AM
Almost every night.
No, not me, I am not good enough.
No, not me, I am not going to be humiliated again.
No, not me.
No, please don’t call on me,
Because I am afraid to disobey
I am afraid to laugh or speak or cry.
I fear the freedom of being Me!!
We are walking through fire,
While withstanding the rain.
There is no mercy,
Not to this pain
Not in this game.
So many of us turned our backs long ago,
Leaving not one, but two kisses to blow.
Here’s the challenge:
Let’s make a change.
Let’s remind each other that we matter.
Let’s remember equality.
Let’s forget about intimidation.
Let’s escape the ordinary,
And consider the most wild and crazy risks,
But only if they derive from the heart.
I am not just a number.
I am not a statistic.
I am an individual.
I have a name.
I am Me.
And I do not want to be judged
By what it says on that paper.
I can be witty
And funny
And truthful
And bold
And courageous.
But only if you let me.
It has been a battle,
A war zone, in fact.
But today is the day that we take it all back.
My friends, I have seen the wise eyes of change,
And we are at its core.
We are its pupils.
We have thrust our fists high into the air,
Demanding an answer,
Demanding our pride back,
Demanding those scornful words to be forgotten.
My dear friends,
Oh, my dear, dear, friends
We have won.
Today there is an educator
Whose knowledge escapes tradition,
And teaches through doing,
Not by the book.
There are those who Inspire.
There are those who learn as they teach.
There are those who hold their heads high,
Because their students want to be in their classrooms.
There are teachers with open hearts,
And Compassion.
There are teachers who understand.
They live to be dreamers,
Because they are living the dream.
Today, my friends,
Today,
We rise.