the best years

welcome to hell. it is also sometimes known as high school.

“high school is the best four years of your life!” the adults tell us

(all stretched smiles with the subtle undertone of “you just need to get through it okay?”)

as we drown in the sea of too many other students

shoving shoving shoving in the hallways we all look the same to the teachers

(ain’t no such thing as individuality in a place like this kid)

they don’t care about us anyway

“high school is the best four years of your life!” the adults tell us

(with their fake enthusiasm like maybe it’ll catch on like a DISEASE)

we are so tired in the mornings and most of us are sad for most of the day

because if you aren’t popular, if you are quiet, you are  n o  o n e

and you wanna stand out? you wanna be UNIQUE? i’d like to see you try

“high school is the best four years of your life!” the adults tell us

(and we suck our teeth and roll our eyes)

we’ve got papercuts and sleepy eyes and no time, no time for anything else

not really, not if you want to pass

don’t even bother speaking out here because no one actually cares about your opinions no one cares about your side of the story

(“LISTENLISTENLISTEN” we scream. “YOUR FAULT. DETENTION. IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT BECAUSE I SAID SO”  they say. “LISTEN. YOU AREN’T LISTENING” we plead but they aren’t listening)

“high school is the best four years of your life!” the adults tell us again and again

they turn around and walk away before we can call them on their bullshit

(welcome to hell. it is also sometimes known as high school)