Shy and Loud

I may be quiet,

I may be shy,

but that doesn't mean

recognition will kill me.

What I'm doing right

-homework, quiet, listening-

even if everyone else is disregarding your voice,

is still right.

They aren't my children,

my brothers or sisters,

they aren't even my friends!

So what power do I hold over them?

Because I'm quiet,

and shy,

and small,

and maybe a little weak.

Keep the boisterous after class,

give the sloth extra-work,

send the contentious to the principal,

but did I do wrong?

If you said the homework was due

on Tuesday,

it better be collected on Tuesday,

not Wednesday or Thursday.

Why extend the due date for

the boisterous, the lazy, the contentious

just because

they're the majority?

Too many times I have been deemed

the "try hard"

an "overachiever"

a nerd.

When all I was doing was my work,

the homework,

the project

at my expectations.

Rather than scold the majority,

could you give a little glance

or nod my way to say

THANKS?

I don't ask for extra-credit

(because I don't need it)

I don't expect money o rmountains of praise

(just because the rest left their brains in a ditch)

All I want is a nod,

and respect.

Is that really so hard?