First day of School
By Quan Nguyen
First day new school just trying not to lose.
Walked through the hallways seeing everybody flexing with their thousand dollar shoes.
People be acting like Christians but, I saw them over the summer drinking the booze.
I went to first hour and sat down.
I thought to myself I just want to fit in, I don’t want to drown.
I looked at all my classmates in face and saw they all had a grin.
But I knew deep down they felt anger, sadness and depression but would never show it on their outside skin.
Should I confine myself to society?
Should I copy my peers, put on a fake grin and stand by silently?
I dwelled on this question in every class.
Debating if I should follow the mass.
On the bus ride home I finally, decided on who I was going to be.
I was not going to bow down to this society with my knee.
I am just going to be me.
Poem inspired by Whitman’s “Song of Myself”
Quan,
I love the rhythm that you have written into this poem. I think a lot of kids who are tossed in to a new school also struggle with finding where they fit in. You make a good point in just finding who you are and being yourself. If you try to change yourself and be like everyone else you are not going to feel comfortable in your own body. If you are just being yourself people will come to like you and want to be friends. You don’t have to change yourself to meet societies standards.
Hello Quan, your poem is very deep and I really like it. You talk about the first day school and how different people are emotionally and physically. You also talk about standing up for yourself and not let society control you, which I fully support this. I believe everyone should do what they want and not let society or people discourage you from your goals or achievements. Anyways thank you for your poem, and I look forward to see what you write next. Take Care.