Stressful Expectations: A Poem

By: Isobel Gaedtke

The expectations in the air
Linger
An ongoing heat that is pushed around
The movement of students is stiff

The teachers are stern
Students learn
But the expectations rise
Like the temperature in the summer

It chokes me and astounds me
The heat is caught in my throat
And the teachersĀ“ voices bounce
In my head
Building up in clumps

The classes are hard
But the curriculum is harder
I breathe through the fog
And struggle to relax
To work

But the teachers push and push
And the kids shove and shove
All of them pushing me to the ground
I am crushed in the movement
As the words and numbers
Stomp on my chest

I try to breathe
To struggle
To learn

But it comes back
As I try to relax
Closing in on me as I scramble
To trap my thoughts
But IĀ“m trapped
And lost

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