Work Text:
The nurses in the health office
Found smoke in my lungs
I coughed up sparks,
From a dying fire in my core
Lined with lead and gasoline
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They laid me down on the bed
A casket for kids who need escape
A coffin for my youth, a resting place
For my four years of growing up
My civil term of losing identity
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And we talked about my sister
A favorite subject, a shared topic
An anomaly in the everyday way
There’s dust in the corners
And it feels like a summer day
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And I guess someone else felt it too
Ordering takeout in math class
And setting off fireworks in the halls
I’m breaking the rules
And I’m breaking my vows
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There’s blood on my face
And it’s dripping on the floor
From breaking my back and
Breaking my skull and
Breaking my hands
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I will become familiar
with being tired
I will fall in love with
pretending to understand
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Do what you have to do
To feel special and young
Graduate top of your class
Graduate valedictorian
The catalyst of rebellion