Put on the Shoes

By: Ryan Bove

Criticism,

Ridicule,

Put-downs,
Rude comments,
Sarcastic remarks,

The joke of every day,

The laughingstock of the grade,

Embarrassed,

Degraded,

Disgraced,

Humiliated,
Mistreated,

Misunderstood,

She is thought of as second-class,

And no good.

A stranger,

A loner,

An outcast,

An outsider,

Left out,

They laugh at her.

They snicker behind her back.

She is defenseless,

Under verbal attack.

Why can't they see,

That she is the same as you and me?
Is it because they misunderstand,
The problem at hand?
How would they feel,

To be laughed at?
Why can't they see her for who she is,
Instead of who she is not?
If they could only put themselves in her shoes,

Then they might stop.