October 30, 2022.
full of poorly done drawings and not so bright ideas
Raw feelings with poor choices of words
and I have always loved the imperfections in how I feel
I had an English teacher
Thinning black hair from stressful students I'm sure
He always walked like he was in a rush
and though he smiled wide, he had thin patience for us
He would jeeringly repeat back what we said to him
- in our little accents that we didn't realize we had
Then all period long, we had to listen to his
and we didn't once laugh
I remember the day in class I said, "ain't"
and I felt my whole body tense
because I knew he was going to make me read the dictionary
- just like the other mistaken kids
He would make us look up the word
and tell us it was only used by the less educated
He wanted to iron out every crease but when I got back home,
I listened to my mama and daddy say the words I wasn't supposed to know
For years after his influence, I fought the instinct
to say what came so naturally
in hopes to be taken seriously
because I wanted to sound like I mattered
Now, I beg and plead for my nephew and niece
to keep their roots firmly planted even when -
they think they're just pulling weeds
because a whole dialect is worth saving
Poetry by aidan haskel
Read 159 times
Editors' choice
Written on 2022-11-05 at 08:01
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ain't
I carried around a composition bookfull of poorly done drawings and not so bright ideas
Raw feelings with poor choices of words
and I have always loved the imperfections in how I feel
I had an English teacher
Thinning black hair from stressful students I'm sure
He always walked like he was in a rush
and though he smiled wide, he had thin patience for us
He would jeeringly repeat back what we said to him
- in our little accents that we didn't realize we had
Then all period long, we had to listen to his
and we didn't once laugh
I remember the day in class I said, "ain't"
and I felt my whole body tense
because I knew he was going to make me read the dictionary
- just like the other mistaken kids
He would make us look up the word
and tell us it was only used by the less educated
He wanted to iron out every crease but when I got back home,
I listened to my mama and daddy say the words I wasn't supposed to know
For years after his influence, I fought the instinct
to say what came so naturally
in hopes to be taken seriously
because I wanted to sound like I mattered
Now, I beg and plead for my nephew and niece
to keep their roots firmly planted even when -
they think they're just pulling weeds
because a whole dialect is worth saving
Poetry by aidan haskel
Read 159 times
Editors' choiceWritten on 2022-11-05 at 08:01
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text
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