Why am I?

1. Bailey Musso

Sometimes I wonder
at a flash of lighting
and rumble of thunder,
why the sky is fighting?

What makes is shake
with angst and passion?
What makes it break
its passive fashion?

For me lies such reasons
to hate and to fight
the coming of each season,
with scratch and bite.

First there is
the absence of Dad,
who never made his
the daughter he had.

And next there comes
my dyslexic mind,
which fumbles and hums,
each grade I'm left behind.

And I have given up
on all education,
for I'm a dumb pup
in a too-smart nation.

So every day I work
at the mini-mart,
a check-out clerk
because I'm not smart.

And I like to get high
but only sometimes
when I say good-bye
to all good times.

And then I begin
to swim and swim
like a fish with new fins,
on some inner whim.

And soon I land a job
as a lifeguard,
after a false drug test
and learning CPR.

And then the drugs
stop altogether.
I'm no longer a thug.
It didn't last forever.

I make more money
and meet a guy
who I can call honey
without getting high.

My life isn't flawless,
but it doesn't suck
and is no longer lawless
and filled with muck.

2.Brion Harding

I've read many a book,
from Plato to Frost,
so my thoughts may cook
and not get lost.

But I watch kids pass by
and feel something missing,
like getting high
and french-kissing.

I know I'm a geek,
without much brawns,
some sort of freak,
like a cow amongst fawns.

I need a break from
pressures of the Ivy League,
so I stop snubbing
those who can't read.

In fact, I just wander
through the school halls
and start to ponder
my many pitfalls.

Maybe at present
I am a geek,
but I will be sent
to college in a week.

And then I will not
be the same person
whose blood will clot
if he doesn't become
some rich business person.

I'll have fun,
smoke a little pot,
have some sex, hon,
let loose and hot.

Freedom.

3. And...

And so the choices
of many teens
can help or hurt
or achieve dreams.