community

with their woven black cardigans and horn-rimmed glasses
they say "let's build a kind and caring community."
with crooked grins of polished white. they say
"let's trust that always we will respect one-another"

but all that lingers in my mind beneath my
sunflower-printed dress to look pretty
for the first day of school is that sickly phrase
"community." a community of what? i inquire

"don't ask such questions"

silenced only because the inevitable answer
rattles through the air: a community of forced
kindess forced perfection and sickly sweet respect.

there's no subtle community building
because the teacher's eyes are swollen in blue below
and they just want it to all be alright like all of us but
they don't know how because nobody ever told them.
nobody ever demonstrated a real community.

so now they grasp onto this sickly hope and
tell us "just be kind. then we'll have a good community.
kindness is all that matters."

they're wrong
they're wrong because so many things matter
they're wrong because telling us is not how to have a
community.
if that's what they want
if that's what we want
if that's what all of us want
which it is
then we all have to live it.