Poem of the Week

HARDSHIPS AND DISTRACTIONS

I'm going to have my dinner
At my grandma's house today.
My mom is stayin' late for work
To make some extra pay.
I've got a lot’ a homework
But I'm worried 'bout my mom.
So that makes it hard to concentrate.
My mind feels like a bomb!
I've also got to make sure
That I wash some clothes to wear
And I've got to get the stuff I need
To tame my crazy hair.
And while I’m doin’ that,
I’ll use the phone to make some calls
To tell my friends the time and place
For Friday at the mall.
And sometime between now and then
I've got to get some dough($).
'Cause I ain't going to the mall
All destitute and po'.
I know that I should focus
On that test I've got in math,
But my English paper's due soon too.
I need some help real bad!
Some teachers think I just don't care
And some think I'm not tryin'.
I think I'm caught in a trap –
Sometimes I just start cryin'.
But no one ever sees my tears.
‘Cause I just show the tough side.
I like to seem real in control –
If not book-smart, then street-wise.
I wish my teachers understood
What it's like to be me.
To see my life the way I do –
The whole complexity.
They'd see how hard it is to keep
So many things in focus.
They'd see how blurry things can get –
How stuff can seem so hopeless.
My teacher said I best be ready
When I take that test in math.
But I ain’t got no help at home.
I never knew my dad.
I want to go to college.
But for that I need good grades,
Based on what my grades are now,
There may not be a way.
I don’t know what I’m gonna do.
I need someone who’s wise
To help me figure out which way to turn –
To empathize.
But let me stop daydreamin’,
‘Cause I got a lot to do.
If I don’t start my homework soon,
I never will get through.
If I try and still can’t do it
Then I just won’t hand it in.
But if I don’t try, I’ll never know.
So here goes, I’ll begin.
Everyday I pray
To find someone to guide me and to care.
Is there any chance that you could be
An answer to my prayer?

© Ronald F. Ferguson, April 2004.