Every year since kindergarten,

We begin with a journal entry.

Entering our thoughts on our day, 

and writing for over a whole century.

 

This continues to elementary school, 

when we write a single entry,

every day about another memory.

 

Though, a common thread 

that I can't get out of my head

Is the lack of passion coming out of our pencil lead.

 

We write words in a fashion

To gain us plenty of praise,

Though we don't imagine

What ways

We can change our hallways.

 

We spend our energy

Memorizing cliches we should avoid,

But we never think about the things that we enjoy.

 

And while I do think our required reading is important;

We should still have time to look at our favorite portraits;

Or read a book or sing a song about how 

Florence is just gorgeous;

Instead of sitting here like zombies,

Utterly wordless.

 

What if instead of writing about 

how our day is going,

We talk about issues 

that it feels like nobody’s showing.

 

Like how girls get called out 

for wearing short skirts,

While their male peers make jokes 

and act like perverts.

 

Or how some schools 

try to divert our attention

From the fact that their diversity 

is not reflected in their "honorable mentions."

 

These are issues many of us

feel strongly about,

But we don’t have a platform 

to truly speak out.

 

So, in summary,

I’m utterly disappointed;

In how I have to form a compulsory chronology

Of how my day is going.