They hated me.

For three months

I didn’t talk at all

And they thought

I was stupid

Then I learned English,

I started talking

Big words spilling from my mouth

I got the top test scores

Still, they hated me.

So I didn’t talk to them

I talked to myself

I lived stories in my head

And because I was strange

Queer, weird

They hated me.

I never said the Pledge

Of Allegiance

I tried to explain

It felt like praying

To a flag

So I was punished

By the teachers

And they hated me.

I spent my time

Hiding in the library

Reading, learning

Ignoring them all

So they hated me.

One boy hit me

Over and over

In the face

After school

“Go home, you filthy

Communist,” he said

“I wish,” I responded

So they hated me.

And every morning

Mrs. Reed said

“God bless America”

And I didn’t know

Whether to laugh or cry

Or keep silent

And pretend I wasn’t there.