The Bravest Person I Know

The Bravest Person I Know

Ring.

The bell sounds and the halls flood with kids

Rushing to get somewhere.

She keeps close the wall, always touching base in this shark tank.

Insults stitched across the back of her shirt by giggling girls

As she unknowingly has returned to the scene of the crime,

For reasons that are beyond me,

She is here and I admire her for just that.

Books on my hip, and a powerful friend on my shoulder,

I could easily corner her.

So small and vulnerable

And without a shield.

Then I come to the end of the hallway

And a cynical peer puts a sowing needle in my hand,

Instructing me to do the deed with piercing eyes.

Why do they despise her so?

Actually, she is the only person to survive

Being different here, in the shark tank;

I try with all my might to follow in that path,

To be righteous, to be unique.

But my peer hisses in my ear,

Telling me how easy it would be.

Just one simple sting of a needle

That she’ll forget before next period.

That’s a lie, we all know it

And the ones would acknowledge it,

Deal with it.

I set the needle down on the ground, step on it, turning it into metallic dust.

I have chosen that path before,

But I’ve regretted it even

Before the consequences have come.

I continue, thinking about how the

Right decision will cost me.

I find out later,

A few dirty looks and a snide remark, stitched into the back of my shirt.

It was worth it; I did it for her.

She is the bravest person I know, a Mino diving into a shark tank.

I glance backwards, seeing the remnants of the needle,

And I look forward, having the strength and integrity to walk onward.