Kate Burke

My English teacher asked us to write a poem

“Who I Am From The Inside Out”

But I can’t tell you that, my dear teacher,

Because I have no clue myself.

I rarely stop to wonder

“Who Could I Really Be?”

I’m too busy rushing to take down

Every word my teachers speak,

Trying to catch every syllable.

If I miss something, I could fail,

Not just the test or the semester or the class,

But I could fail high school!

And that would mean:

I wouldn’t get into a good college and

I wouldn’t be able to take the right classes so

I wouldn’t be able to get a good job

And I’d be stuck taking orders

At some slummy fast food joint

FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!

“Hello, welcome to Burger King!

May I take your order?”

I’m not sure how I can even take the time

To write this poem in the first place.

I mean, I should be studying for Biology.

Or Spanish.

Or Geometry or History or Latin,

Cuz you know, I could fail the test,

And we already know what happens if I fail the test.

The first week of high school

The principal had an assembly for all the freshmen

And she said,

“Welcome to High School,

I want you to enjoy your time here!”

But really all she was saying was,

“Welcome to Hell,

I hope you don’t die before 2012!”

I mean, I’m sixteen

And I should be able to live a little,

Before I get to 2012.

IF I get to 2012.

Cuz you know, I could fail the test.

Honestly,

I want to be able to wear my hair any way I like

And dance in the rain

And paint pictures of pink umbrellas and trumpets.

Really I want to do whatever I like

And not have to be told,

“Do your homework. Clean your room.

Or you might FAIL.”

I want to eat ice cream for dinner

And take a drive at midnight

Without having my mom in the passenger seat.

I want to drive for miles and miles

And let my hair flow behind me.

Out on the open road there are no tests,

Except for maybe whether to turn

Right or left?

And whether I choose right or left,

There’s really no way I can fail

Because either path will lead

To a whole new adventure.