On the American School System

Today, I will sell my soul

I will give up my will and my ways

I will become one with this being

this beast

I will give to it my everything

Today, I have sold my soul

I gave up my truths and my values

I joined with this being

this beast

And I have given to it my solace

Today, I began with no soul

for it had already been taken from me

there had been no need to sell it

to this being

this beast

for it had already been ripped

from between my ribs

and served to it 

on a platter of gold and ivory

Today, I longed for a soul

for mine had been demolished long ago

replaced with an endless longing

for something indistinguishable

but separate from this being

this beast

who has desecrated the sacred monument of humanity

had voided it of any individuality

had voided it of true existence

Today, I tried to build a new soul

Out of scraps that had once held mine

I wrapped words and rhymes around metaphors

I forged similes out of bone

And I let them settle between my ribs

For this being holds no torch

This beast holds no flame nor power

against this new soul I will make

Today, I rediscovered my soul

For despite being taken

Tattered sinew left as proof

It’s remnants still held on

And with them, I will attempt to escape from this being

This beast

And I will let a new soul take hold

 

Today, I have sold my soul

For, despite resistance and truths I had longed for

I felt forsaken without the guidance of this being

This beast who has cemented itself into my identity

For, in taking my soul, it had become my soul

It has settled between my ribs and whispered Into my ear

Telling me what it deemed mattered

Telling me which numbers deemed me deserving

And which deemed me a desolate grievance

A thorn in its side to be left behind and forgotten

Today, I longed for a soul

But instead, I found a definition

And instead, I found proof I was nought but a forsaken beast

Instead, I found proof that this being curled between my ribs

Was to be my true calling

And I was not to argue

For it would grant me poetry if I complied

For It would grant me rewards for each day of suffering

For, after suffering, I would be granted my own soul

That had been cut from me as a child

Today, I wait for my soul