Hearing a hullabaloo from
the next classroom over,
I hopped into the hallway
To see a student spewing sass at her teacher.

She flips her hair and rolls her eyes.
At the same moment —
Smack —
A smart snapping sound sails off her lips.
“Whatever,” she huffs,
Crossing one arm over the other,
Pointing her elbows out
Like the quills of a porcupine.
“I didn’t want to be in your class anyways!”

She pivots,
Fifty percent ballerina, fifty percent basketball player—
One hundred percent attitude.

I spy
the same student
several hours later,
Beside a classmate,
During after school tutoring,
Blatantly whispering
“You know what I hate?”
She begs of her buddy,
“Teachers that say they don’t care.”

Her companion corroborates,
“Mmm-hmm.”

“They should know
I’m fronting.
They got something
And I want what they got.
That’s why I show up.
Now, why would you
Tell someone
Who show up
Everyday
That you don’t care ‘bout them?
Ain’t you the grown-up here?”

Again, her friend
Renders Assent,
“Mmm-hmm.
They should
just know, no
Matter what,
No matter how you act
No matter what you say,
That you want
What they got.
They should
just know.”

NaPoWriMo.net – Day 10 Prompt “Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that is a portrait of someone important to you. It doesn’t need to focus so much on what a person looks (or looked) like, as what they are or were.”