The Exchange is the Weekly’s poetry corner, where a poem or piece of writing is presented with a prompt. Readers are welcome to respond to the prompt with original poems, and pieces may be featured in the next issue of the Weekly.
Dime’s Declassified School Survival Guide by Chima “Naira” Ikoro
Amid anti-bullying posters tacked to hallways
and mandatory assemblies that only made things worse,
a middle school girl is taking matters into her own hands
and throwing them.
She packs up her bag while finishing her sentence, and walks to the principal’s office before being told.
One day my best friend gave a girl three extra years with her braces;
knocked shorty between a chair and a desk that don’t separate
and not even the teacher came between them.
I reached in and discovered fists have targets but the elbows that wield them
do not.
That was my friend for real, I didn’t care who wasn’t because she was,
even if the reality she shaped herself around was harsh and unafraid
to talk about somebody’s mother.
Contrary to popular belief, there aren’t actually rules to defending yourself
when no one else will protect you.
When no one has your back, you learn to swing in every direction.
and I see my grammar school best friend in everything.
She taught me how to rip a brick off your facade and cast it,
knowing you’re sturdy enough not to fall.
Don’t care if y’all don’t like me cause i don’t like y’all either,
and I put that on your mama.
I’d pack my bag and call my mother myself,
never got in trouble cause the trouble tried to get in me first,
I was just defending myself.
They called my friend problematic, but I learned that some of us find ourselves having to be solutions because there aren’t multiple choices.
They could never make me hate you
because they could never make you hate yourself.
When someone questions your worth, sometimes you answer with your fists because it’s all you have and you are tired of being tested.
My teachers told me to try harder to be likable so I could make more friends,
and my closest one taught me how to like myself enough to protect
what I could not change.
and only one of those versions of myself never got jumped again.
I’ll let you guess which one.
Prompt:
“Who or what has given you the strength to protect your peace instead of seeking approval?”
This could be a poem, journal entry, or a stream-of-consciousness piece. Submissions could be new or formerly written pieces.
Submissions can be sent to bit.ly/ssw-exchange or via email to chima.ikoro@southsideweekly.com
Chima Ikoro is the Weekly’s Community Engagement Coordinator.