B Section

By J. Bloom

B section:
Another death today, usually there’s two or three
trains, shootings, carbon monoxide, skiing incidents I’m lucky if a
day passes between tragedies
Later, mom shows me a rap style poem
it’s by a girl just my age
for all I know, she’ll be dead tomorrow
I want to cry, but what’s the use?
Tears are cheap these days.
Everyone’s saying we have to do something
it’s like running in place
nothing ever gets done except speeches and "inspirational events"
I’m not allowed to even publish this poem!
If it goes in the paper, tomorrow I’ll have my head on a pike and
maybe my mom’s, for "encouraging" me
besides, to the world, I’m invisible
insulated by my teachers and school
Adults don’t like that
they want to rip your protective covers off
and fling you into the snow of life, saying
"Now go do something."
They don’t even care that you don’t know who you are yet or what
the hell you’ll be doing at age 21
the only thing I want is to pull the covers up
and go somewhere where there really is love.

Julia Bloom is a 17 year old junior at Arlington High School. She was influenced to write this poem after she saw an article in the Globe about all the violence in Dorchester and Roxbury, MA. She was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at age 6.

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