Theme For English 10 - Post #251

After reading Langston Hugh's "Theme For English B," our assignment was the same as his (and the only one I've considered worthwhile this year):

"Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you---
Then, it will be true."

Mitch wrote a three page history of his life (single spaced), Jess wrote about the Jonas Brothers, and Bri restarted at least twice. I sat down, and this is what happened.

My middle school yearbook is two years old
Already the pages are wrinkled
And the binding – two staples – is loose
Inside, I see myself in the photos of yesteryear
Forced smiles for group pictures
China teeth in a face of stone
That is what I looked like, but it isn’t me

Flip to the back of the book (careful of the covers)
Five pages of scribbled pen
Like knots, they hold together last goodbyes
Signatures under hasty notes
Have a good summer and I’ll see you next year

But, disorganized mess they are, these are the pages
The ones I turn to to remember
Or to forget
They hold a truth that I hold dear

I am the nerd, the dork, the smart one
Always have been, likely will be
These pages crawl with notes that say so

I trace the names that wrote those words
I know them, but not well
And likewise, they don’t know me
The impression I left was two arms, two legs
One brain, larger than most
And that is how it will remain

But the ones I love seem clueless of that fact
My mind factors little in their memories
Instead, they write of laughter
Of inside jokes and shared struggles
Of moments in time that brought us together

I am the nerd, the dork, the smart one
I’ve been despised for doing what I love
Instead of what is accepted
And sometimes it is hard

But when I doubt myself and forget who I am
I turn again to my middle school yearbook
Flip to the back (careful of the covers)
And with the words of my truest friends
Remember

--Iona