Week 28; Constituents of Life-Redden

Boxed In
By Emma Redden
Leland and Gray Union High School, Grade 9

My vocabulary consists of
Five words from the time
I step into my plastic casket
Until it is time for me to
Reincarnate myself.

My one sided conversations consist of
Four syllable sentences.
The first few words a kindergartener
Learns when playing store.

My relationships consist of
Me, talking like a broken record
To others that pay no mind,
To others that could care less
If I lived
Never mind what I have to say.

My work consists of
disapproving looks,
furrowed eyebrows,
rolled eyes,
and the exchange of varied
sizes of
George Washington.

My lunch consists of
Four pieces of organic ham,
Enveloped in dry pita bread,
A Granny Smith apple and
One hundred percent grapefruit
Juice.
Has the ruby colored juice turned me sour?

My static day consists of
Me being the recipient
Of others pity.
I can tell they look at me
Wondering why my life has
Amounted to nothing?
Why me life has led me to my
Own suffocation?

My daydreams consist of
The life I would die to have,
The love I would die to offer
The ocean I would love to sail,
The art I would love to create.

My aspirations consist of
Nothing because I have been
told by too many looks
and too many scrutinizing eyes
that I don’t deserve anything more
than glass coffins,
exhaust,
and pita bread.

My life consists of me
Wanting to be someone
Else but not knowing how.

My life consists of me
Not wanting to believe
Others when they tell me
I don’t matter,
But then never being able to help it.

My life consists off my
self-doubt that
Anyone will let me help them.

My life consists of me
Dr. Nyambura Tonui
Of Kenya,
Working at a toll booth.