Mrs. Benjamin said

Go home and write
This theme for honors English 11 poem.
Let the worlds travel on to the page;
Write about you.

I wondered what I would write about.
I wrote what she said
I wrote what I did
I wrote who I was
But I still felt like I hid

Now this is my story, not Hughes’ tale
This is my version, not his, nor hers, or theirs
Mine.

I am sixteen-and one word cannot describe who I am.
I am sixteen-unique, different, holy, moral, intricate, etc.
I was born in the City and raised in Northern Jersey
I went to Commodore Perry, then Lenape and JK, the Ridge-
And now I find myself at the last stop on Ridge Road, MHS.

Every day I walk out of school, rush to my car, and go home the same route
I have been traveling since 3rd grad- down the hill, over the highway, through the town and tunnel, right on to the end of my street.
I open my green door, throw my bags on the floor, and eat a snack. I grab my iPod and sit on my couch, laptop in hand and I begin to write

It’s not easy to know what is right or wrong these days
For me or for you, for him or for her, for they or for them
At sixteen, the world is spinning around me with decisions and choices to be made
All of my fellow peers seem to make the same destructive decisions, (and ironically join SADD and REBEL)
But I say NO.
I see them and I see me, I hear you and hear me.
I know who they really are and I know me
This is good for absolutely nobody



I am not like them but yet I am constantly forced to be; well this is the real me:
I like to talk A LOT, dance, and sing to music in my bedroom while watching myself in the mirror
I like to love people and I love to laugh incessantly
I have a secret affair with pizza and french-fries and I want to marry the heartthrobs of pop-culture.
Lacrosse runs through my veins as does God
I go to youth group every single week and the people there are my best friends
I live for Journey, and no, it’s not the band
I am a walking IMDB.com
I live by my favorite quotes
Instead of throwing on 92.3 NOW I throw in an ancient 90’s CD of Rob Thomas and the Goo-Goo Dolls
I go the speed limit in my car, always drive with my red stickers, and never have too many people in the car
I over think everything
When I fall head over heels, I fall hard…real hard
I feel invisible, I trust people too easily
I want to fall in love-I’ve never been kissed
I’m gullible
I love to write and want to be a journalist
I also think I would be a good teacher/coach
Part of me wants to go the college in the south because everyone seems nicer, realer, there
I wish my life was an 80’s movie
Whatever song I’m listening to seems to perfectly describe my life
I don’t wear short dresses or shorts
Sweatshirts are my best friends
I play video games, but the classic board games are my favorite
I’m addicted to chocolate.
I just want everybody to like ever body
I chase perfection and never give up
I hate to lose and love to win
I hate how everyone thinks I think am perfect and a teacher’s pet
I hate how my French teacher told the entire class that I was her favorite
I hate how people expect so much out of me
I hate the politics in the Mahwah athletic programs and the town in general
I hate how teachers think the students on the honors track are so much better than the college prep kids and that the honors ones are the only ones with futures
I say hate to much
I have three cats
I like how I may be related to my physics teacher
I really love music and movies, but I am scared to get involved in those professions because
I don’t want the magic to disappear

There is a lot more to me too just not enough ink in the world to print it out
I was upset when I got this strict assignment so I wrote my own to go along with it

So what will my page be, odd, complicated, confusing, lovely?
What will I write?
This page is my life, and honestly
It’s a work in the making…
I don’t know what I will be or who I will become
Where I will go or who I will see
But all I do know
Is this is my theme-, my theme for me