What the Hell Is It?
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What the hell is it?
First, you want me to raise my hand in class
Then, you want me to particapate less
Now, you want me to completely shut up?
What the hell is it?
Please hurry up
Make up your mind
And teach me something
'Cause my stomach is on ten.
You're acting like I have time to waste
Like I am just another slave on the plantation
Just trying to make another dollar
Just so you can stand up at your little desk
And say to me "I have already gotten my degree,
You gotta go get your own."
Do I look like I care?
I know I gotta go get mine!
Why else would I be in your class?
It's not like I have any other choice
Or desire to be here today.
If I wanted to
I could be at home watching Power Puff Girls
Or the new episode of Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta
Or even think about doing a drive by in somebody else's neighborhood
Because my uncle just got shot.
Hell, maybe it would be a great time for me to decide to commit suicide.
But you wouldn't know that
Because you are still here for a paycheck.
Though I may not know everything
I still know that your paycheck isn't no more
Than the check of the president of the state's hospital.
No less than the average minimum wage
Of a pizza delivery boy.
I may not have a master's degree in teaching
But I have PhD in common sense.
History may repeat itself
But only you and I can change the future.
You want me to be a true scholar?
Challenge my mind and not my personality.
Challenge my opinions and not my goals.
So, when you see me in class tomorrow morning,
Don't look at me and ask "Why aren't you doing your work?"
Or ask "What's with the attitude?"
When you enter the classroom tomorrow morning,
You should put yourself in the mind of a high school student
And say "What the hell is it?"
Because it's clearly that you need help with finding your righteous self
Since you have lost it.
-Lauren Pointer