Lunar Poetry

Look at Them II

Slam Poem
By Aafreen Khan

look at them,

in a crowd, oh so powerful and strong.
pointing at that boy.
poking at that boy.
PUNCHING that boy.
why are they doing that to him?
he didn't do anything to them?
and yet, there he is,
cut, bruised and crying.
of course everyone pretends to not notice.
the teachers don't care either;
"you guys are old enough,
you guys are mature enough,
there is no bullying at this age."
they say.
but yes, sir, ma'am, there is.

physical bullying is what this is.

look at them.

a mom, a dad, two kids.
what a nice family!
#familygoals
but the ones mentioning this hashtag
really don't know,
the mom comes home every night drunk,
calls her kids mistakes,
that her life is ruined because of them,
that she wishes they would die,
EVERY SINGLE DAY.
the dad is depressed.
always blames his wife for his miserableness.
always complains about his wife and kids.
always tells his wife that he never wished to marry such an ugly woman.

verbal bullying is what this is.

look at them.

oh, they have such great instagram feeds!
their snapchat stories are hilarious!
their tumblr pages are so aesthetic!
too bad their comments are downright hurtful.
why do they call you ugly?
why do they call you dumb?
how are you supposed to be a whore
when the only guy you talk to
is your brother?
how come your ex who cheated on you
with five other girls during your relationship
is one of the people
calling you a slut?
why don't they ask for the truth face to face
instead of spreading rumours and lies online?

cyber bullying is what this is.

look at them.

sitting and laughing and talking
as if they're all so close.
like the scooby squad from scooby doo,
like the friends from the big bang theory,
like the gang from the breakfast club.
why is the majority there
while you're left completely alone?
you know you're a normal person,
so why don't they invite you?
why are you the only person they're ostracizing?
is it because they're better than you,
because they have something that you don't?
they're smart, athletic and attractive,
like stars in a clear night sky,
like a chocolate in a bowl of candy,
like the most expensive clothing item in a store.
why in the world aren't you there?
didn't you get straight a's?
didn't you win the volleyball banner each year?
didn't you think you were beautiful?
weren't you enough?
maybe you're not that smart anymore.
maybe not that athletic anymore.
maybe not beautiful anymore.
maybe this, maybe that...
are all these maybes going to help you?
get you accepted to their lit parties,
get them to stop excluding you,
stop disregarding you,
stop ignoring you,
as if you're invisible?
speaking to you only when necessary,
giving you glares of disgust,
never acknowledging your words,
as if you're a ghost, like casper.
and you can't even complain about it,
because it's not seen as a real problem.
you start thinking,
"there really must be something wrong with me."
but there's nothing wrong.
there's also no one to tell you that,
since nobody can see the tension.
yes, they may not be verbally abusing you
physically hurting you
or cyberbullying you,

but, silent bullying is what this is.

look at everyone!

we have all been bullied before,
and no matter how much you try
to change and be one of them
they won't care.
they won't change their ways.
you're just a toy
they like messing with,
they like laughing at,
they like feeling powerful with.
they know how it's affecting you
and the result is exactly what they want.

they are bullies.

BUT, LOOK AT THIS!

why is there still bullying?
why must jealousy and anger interfere with our actions?
why must we decrease someone's self-esteem
in order to increase our self-esteem?
why are there more than 4000 students
committing suicide each year
due to bullying?

why can't we all respect each other?
why can't we treat each other as equals?
why can't we include everyone?
why can't we all just get along?