Most Useful Mistake
Must high school friends be so fake?
In the 8th grade, on the basketball court, is where I learned this.
Going from a kid with two or three friends tops
And nobody knowing who I was,
To a kid that I thought I wanted to be.
Practicing on almost a daily basis on the court, getting better at the craft of the sport,
But getting worse at the craft of being a good person.
Being surrounded by those on the regular,
Who only put each other and others down with comments like,
“Look at that kid sitting alone” and “Why do you talk to them?”
Without knowing who they judge.
You adopt the habits.
Knowing you don’t like yourself for handing out insults
To people that did nothing to deserve it,
But if you change, you’ll get made fun of,
Like anybody who was even slightly different,
As if we had no rust ourselves.
Just a part of the sick cycle.
Come senior year, I played the game that played me.
I took the skills that I wanted, and without notice
I left all the baggage it had stacked on me in the dark room it sent me to over & over again.
Rebuilding my attitude and what people thought of me,
Building people up,
Now standing up for them and myself, in order to make the doubters & bullies sit down.
Closer to the person I’d wanted to be than ever before.
