The reason I sit in the back

The reason I sit in the back is to watch

I see everyone in front

My head to the wall

In case someone comes in and another gets shot

I can protect myself, maybe jump out of the window and run

 

But that’s not the reason why I sit in the back

It’s because I can see everything from a different perspective

I can see what others are doing instead of listening

Their phone screens glistening or their heads being put down

 

What if the world just put down people who didn’t care

Like dogs who wouldn’t listen or would just stare

Look at you with evil eyes and drool dripping from its mouth

Students are like dogs trying to pick a piece of meat and rip it apart

 

We dig and dig

Maybe not in the grass

But we dig for the things that make us feel glad

That we chose a major we loved to study

But sometimes others wish they just were handed the grades than working for the money

 

Like a dog, it is handed a bone

A treat for it to be respectful

But for us, students aren’t given anything

And we have to learn how to be polite by ourselves

 

Living alone in a dorm with people we just met

Like a dog meeting different dogs at the park

We are searching for the people we get along

with

The people who make us want to get out and play

 

See, dogs play with dog toys

And teenagers play with drugs

Even though they’re not the same, they’re similar in a way.

Our dogs play with their toys over and over

Almost like an addiction

Chewing on something that makes them happy

Even if it’s only for a second

 

That’s like us teenagers

Who pick up things like weed or LSD

We use things to make us feel something

Even if it’s just for a little bit

 

And some of us get bored of it

We tend to take a break

A nap or something because we think we deserve it

Even though it’s not the end of the day

 

But others continue to use it

Because it’s there favorite

Like a dog’s favorite toy,

They keep picking it up,

And putting it in its mouth,

That sometimes you have to pull it out if the dog won’t stop using it

 

I guess what I’m saying is that us students are a lot like dogs

But I wouldn’t necessarily call people bitches

Only those who treat me wrong

But still, you shouldn’t fight wrongness with wrongness.

 

Some dogs are shy and some dogs are energetic

Like us students,

The shy people aren’t sure which pack to hang out with

and the energetic people don’t have a problem with looking

The quiet students sit in their dorms

Like dogs who stay in their own corners

And the loud students won’t stop talking

Like dogs who won’t stop barking.

 

The reason why I sit in the back is to watch

I see everyone in the front

But I don’t just look –

 

I watch.

– j.ds

 

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