Student Work

From a SpeakTogether virtual workshop, University Heights High School, The Bronx, Fall 2020

This poem was composed during a six-week workshop conducted by poet Jubi Arriola-Headley, who introduced a class of 9th-grade students to myriad forms of poetry that exist. This workshop took place virtually during a global pandemic. Read more about the works in this collection, which demonstrates students’ efforts to find their voices and share them with their peers, teachers, and families.

It’s not fair!

by Michael

It’s not fair I get stuck,
In a cage, It’s not fair,
I can’t go outside and fly free,
It’s not fair I can’t eat more than,
I eat today, It’s not fair I can’t
Play around your room and all I get is stuck,
In a cage, It’s not fair all I can do is watch,
You do something interesting and I can’t
It’s not fair I’m forced to just sit
And watch and eat and sleep,
Why can’t I go outside and fly with,
My wings, It’s not fair you cut the feathers,
So I can’t fly around and poop at things,
It’s not fair I lost the person I care about the
Most of all—But at least I’m not alone when I cry
Because you’re with me, Always watching me
And caring about me if I am sick,
It’s not fair you guys see me like this,
It’s not fair!

Michael is a student at University Heights High School in The Bronx.