underneath the surface
Looking out you see 23 faces
Some paying more attention than others
Some taking more thorough notes than others
Some eyes knowing, and others glazed over
Then you land on her
She gets straight D’s yet never pays attention
She writes and she plays on her phone
Yet she never pays attention
She’s infuriating and frustrating and angering
She’s being disrespectful and ruining her own grade
If only you knew
If only you could hear the chatter in her brain
The exchange of languages
Despite the lack of fluency
If only you could feel the static she feels
If only you could carry the same weight she carries
Just to keep breathing
If only you knew the bruises on her arm are self inflicted
If only you knew about the scars that cover her hip and her thigh
If only you knew about all of her baggage
It’s all about your perspective you see
To you, she’s a lazy student
But maybe, just maybe
There’s something else going on underneath the surface