Privilege

I go to a tutoring center every day

They cater to the rich

Designed, in essence, to perpetuate privilege

I sit next to alabaster smiles

and designer clothes

and smart phones

Smart Phones

SmArt PhOnes that tic away at the time

tic

tic

tic

time gone by on a phone

while sitting in a 400 dollar per hour class

They Did Not Pay For

I sit next to the ignorant

and I feel uncomfortable

My dad offered to buy me a car

I said no

I wanted these classes instead

I go to a tutoring center every day

They cater to the rich

My hands ache

my pen bleeds in

desperation to do my parents’

hard-earned money

justice

I can’t.

I am a basket case

I have realized that I am a cog in a system that doesn’t need me

I am drowning

trying to find a function a meaning a

purpose

I go to a tutoring center every day

They cater to the rich

i go to denny’s every night

My friend is there too,

only he is there for different reasons

than mine

I am here to study

Study, he says, nah I gotta work

Till one am on school nights

He wants to drop out because a paycheck is the most glamorous thing he will ever know

I go to a tutoring center every day

and I hate myself for it

How do I honor my parents

and still

look my friend in the eye

I am a cog in a system that doesn’t need me

He is a cog in a system that does not want him

My friend looks to the stars

He says

I want to go

but no one has taught me to fly

I look to the stars

I say

I want to go

and I will

But I will resent myself because I can only build a spaceship

for one