Who have helped me climb every mountain and hill

Who have pushed me to “problem solve” and “use my resources”

An ode to the substitutes

Who have dealt with the worst of the worst

Who have helped calm a classroom of chaos

An ode to the custodians

Who have cleaned every food fight

Who have helped us survive in a world of sickness and containment

An ode to the students

Who have done every “useless” assignment thrown their way

Who have cried on their kitchen table over a sheet of math

An ode to my school

Who has helped me become who I am
Who has helped me become my best self

And an ode to me

Who has always pushed through

Even in a world full of imperfect

But it is really something that you acquire

From years and years of self motivating and self evaluation

Videos on repeat watching your song

Over and over

And over again

From using every technique you learn

And every lesson you are told

Talent is where you pick apart the pieces of others

And make it into your own

I was once told to sing from the heart from somebody who is close to me

I will stand by those words ‘till the day I die

Because when you have talent you have to grasp it until you can’t use it no more

Because not everybody has your talent

Only you

You bite through the beginning and everything is sweet

You're happy and thriving

Then the end of the year comes and you take a bite out of the rined

Worries and problems build up like the seeds you picked away

But you decide to throw the rined away because you don’t want to spend your time worrying

That's no way to live life

Just keep cutting new slices and picking away the seeds as you go along

Only focus on the sweet red fruit before the rined

That’s how to live life

Who’s behind me? Who’s watching me?

Maybe the cars passing by will bark and screech at the sign of a girl like me?

Maybe the man will lay a hand on a part of me that I want to put out of reach?

Maybe they will howl like dogs when they see a woman who isn’t strong and muscular like them

But when the pepper spray is pulled out it is used for self defense

The relentless and ruthless voices of the women trying to be heard

But they don’t speak a word

Because they are frightened of the world behind them where she could be grabbed

Or she could be jabbed

Or the monsters she feared as a kid will become a reality

When nobody is out there to protect us from brutality

When will we be able to take a ride or go outside without being hurt

When a woman is alone they take out there phone and pretend to make a call

*beep beep*
"Hi Dad I'm about to go to our meeting spot."

Because who knows what is out there when the monsters creep out

They are people who have no love for the world, no doubt

And for so long we have fought for our rights to be able to stride through the nights

Without a man by our side because who knows what's outside

97% have been assaulted 

what does that mean

How has our world resulted

Peace and power and love and pain will help the women take the reign

And fight for the power in the world that we provide

And push those bedtime monsters to the side

I push the sorrow to the back of my mind and focus ahead

The day was hot and sunny

Filled with open arms and salty water

A single tear rolled down my face and my mom quickly wiped it away, preserving her own

I knew my parents would miss me, but they also seemed happy that I was going

A special summertime full of fun 

They knew that I would have a great time, no doubt

But my parents have a special place in my heart

And I would keep in touch the whole time

Because they are the people who made all this possible

And I would spend every last minute of it and live to the fullest

I would laugh and sing and dance until my body could no longer function

Because this was a summer full of joy

This was a summer full of memories

That would last forever in my mind

The camera clicked and we rushed to see if our photo was worthy 

It was

We all looked so happy, cherishing the memories we had together for the last couple weeks of our summer

The red, yellow, and blue could not divide us, we were all one big team

We would do whatever it took to live life to the fullest

No competition would set us apart, we were bonded as a group forever

And as the years go by and we slowly stop coming to our summer home, 

I will never forget this picture and the memories that were made