Poem | Twenty-Eleven

By Eddlynn Jennifer Mangaoang

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On November of

Twenty-eleven

I walked the fifteen-minute distance

To my middle school

The biting cold of Winter

Chilling my bones

And soaking me wet

I shivered

Foggy smoke coming out

From my mouth

As I breathe in and out

I gasped repeatedly

They said the clock 

Would step forward an hour

Or was it backward?

I didn't know

What I know was

I woke up early

And I had to wait an hour

In the bleak, quiet morning

I was an immigrant

And ignorant

Of the ways of this country

I now lived in

I wore a dress

With a short sleeve

No jacket to protect me

From the wind

I wore a thick long sleeve 

In the heat of September

While they laugh 

And then I felt silly

I have to go to eighth grade

While mentally 

I was a sophomore

In high school

I kept to myself 

Never spoke unless spoken to 

Never tried to befriend

Those who tried to get close

Freshman year and still the same

Coming out of the hardened shell

Was harder than a hard-boiled egg

Smiles so fake, I could feel it

The school gave me

Ten-minute to run for my next class

No time to chat or say hi

For time was running out

I stayed in the classroom

With almost the same classmates every year

Waiting for the next teacher to come in

But that was then... Back in the Philippines