More than Meets the Eye
generalizations
in a glance
never tell
the true story
of what’s really going on
i can remember as a kid
being in a classroom
and two kids acting out
to get attention
but the teacher never knew
which ones were at fault
so, the whole class stayed in from break
and even though we were all punished
it was unheard of
to tell
on one another
even if we didn’t agree
and thought it was unfair
we still stuck together
as a class
but if someone walked down the hall
and peeked in the door
and saw the whole class with their heads
down on the desk
and the lights off
they might assume
we had all done something
wrong
and deserved to stay in from break
and if this kept up
we might start to get labeled
as the “bad class”
that always gets in trouble
and the teacher
no matter how good or bad
might get labeled, too
as a teacher who couldn’t control
their students
and maybe the two boys in class
didn’t get enough attention at home
but got more than enough at school
and maybe they just needed
what we all need
to be seen, to be heard, to be understood
and not thought of
as just a “lost cause”
‘cause one day, those boys
might grow up
and prove the whole class wrong
including their teacher
but especially and more importantly
themselves
TL