Vulnerable

At school

we're doing a poetry unit.

"Oh cool, we write poetry all the time!"

My friend says.

What we didn't realize, though,

was that the teacher turned on the tap

to our inner selves

and let it flow out

onto paper,

documents online,

until we were

empty

hollow

dry.

My poetry doesn't come out right

at school

and why would we feel

comfortable

in such a hostile environment?

Even the teachers hate our classmates.

Why

should we express our

deepest selves

in an unsafe environment?

Everything goes wrong at school

when I'm vulnerable.

Calico Frost

VT

13 years old

More by Calico Frost

  • Character Connections

    Prompt for 2025-26 challenges:

    Character connections: In poetry or prose, write about a connection - whether positive, negative, or neutral - between two characters or yourself and a character.

  • Drowning in the unknown

    I am tormented by slight movements

    even silence is hurting me

    reality seems to be strobing

    or something like it -

    I've yet to learn how to explain these moments to others,

    even myself.

    It's not normal,

  • Anticipation

    This is the worst kind of anticipation

    this anticipation isn't just fear of what is to come

    it's laced around the edges with knowledge of how it went last time

    of how a repeat of last year is most likely inevitable.