No Matter What

I love this pencil because it is broken
Because the eraser fell off and the tip wore down
I could sharpen it if I wanted to
But I don’t
My pencil broke in half
Each piece is as long as the distance between my thumb and pointer finger
I scotch taped the sides together
My pencil sits on my desk
bent, bitten, tortured
The victim of my nervous habits
I’m not afraid of anyone stealing it…you could imagine why
When our teacher gives us a test, the others take out pointy, long shiny pencils
But I don’t
Mine stands out among all the others
My teacher tells me to throw it out
She says it isn’t useful anymore.
But I don’t
It would be like throwing away all my knowledge
I hear the kids whisper about it
I heard them plotting to destroy it
So I simply left it out so they could
And when I found it broken to bits, I smiled at them
And knew that it was my pencil
No matter what