It gets lonely sometimes-
sitting alone in the cafeteria,
watching people eat with their friends because
No one wants to sit with the fat girl.
Every day when I walk into the classroom,
I feel their eyes staring at me and their mouths,
whispering.
They think I can’t hear them,
But I can.
Tears fill my eyes whenever I’m home,
But when in doubt,
I remember the love and the words of my mother;
The affirmation of my father.
Every time he says I’m beautiful, loved, and special.
There are some people who will never get better;
Like the new kid in my class,
Bullied because of his accent.
I watched how each day after school
He’d look more distraught than ever.
He would cry alone with pain in his eyes,
Talking to only the teachers,
But never telling about his struggle.
It was traumatizing and I hoped he would be the last-
The last boy to get laughed at for talking different,
The last one whose name is the subject of gossip because he doesn’t fit in.
Yet, it’s a daily routine.
Kids picking on kids out of pride.
They wouldn’t even care if their victims cried.
They believe they have the rights
Just because they’re popular in class,
Or because they’re the ones that always pass.
Don’t you agree that it’s incredibly cruel,
To be picked on for being yourself?
It Gets Lonely by Nifemi Emmanuel won the 2022 African Teen Writers Award in the Poetry Genre
