Bad Boys
Came to Roberson School,
They had no other place to go.
They couldn't stay grounded,
And all of it sounded
like the system struck the final blow.
Bad Boys
come through the metal detector.
They're frisked by the staff,
they sometimes laugh,
then become bitter and dash,
down the hall,
leaving behind cell phones and food
Homework is left behind.
The students are behind.
No Child Left Behind. Ha!
And who is to blame?
Bad Boy --
Called his teacher a bitch.
Another pull the fire alarm.
The principal stood by,
did nothing but nod,
"It seems that they mean no harm."
Bad principal yelled
at the kids in the hall.
"Where is your pass?
I'm going to call
the police.
That will teach
You to obey the rules."
Bad boys yell back,
and are getting suspended,
a day or a month or forever.
Bad principals stay
And keep on offending
Good teachers who try to keep the peace.
Good teachers stay,
And keep on teaching
about poets and history and art.
Martin Luther King and the incredible things
he accomplished by doing his part.
His part to bring peace
in a non-violent way.
The letter he wrote on a warm spring day:
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail."
Some of the best writings have come
from prisons and seem
to speak
volumes and teach
us to turn the other cheek.
Just like Jesus said.
Good teachers believe
that they plant a seed
then leave for other professions.
They write, they keep teaching,
continuing to make their confessions.
Confessions of how the arts
can transform
and build a nation of readers.
They continue to follow
ideas set by all the great leaders.
Leaders like King,
Jefferson,
Douglass,
Gandhi,
Ann Frank,
Kennedy,
and the student body president killed at UNC.
Never give up,
keep trying and see
how the answers will come,
whether slowly or quickly,
they will come.
Bad boys go on
and continue to want
a new life for themselves.
Who knows where they'll go.
Maybe jail,
Maybe college.
Maybe to the White House.
Who knows?
.
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