by Brendaisa
Be yourself, feed the dogs, clean the dishes, they say. But what they don’t understand is that I am myself. They don’t see nothing else, but my sister.
Do the dishes
fix the couch
make up my bed
clean the bathroom
be quiet, stop the attitude
you’re so rude.
And when I try to be myself, they don’t like it. Change your clothes; fix your face; eat your food. I am just being me. Take out the trash; turn off the TV; read a book; don’t sit in the dark; watch your dog; walk the dog; get me my soda; bring me my chips; help me cook.
How can I be myself when
I have no time to try, but
whenI be myself, everybody
don’t like me because I’m
rude, annoyed, quiet, and alone.
Leave me alone, go in your
room, watch TV, read a book,
turn off the TV, turn on the light
when you’re reading, turn off the
light, do your homework,
watch a movie with me, get this
get that.
This is all the things they tell
me to do when I’m alone or not
paying them any attention. And by them
I mean my family.
2014
Beauty in the Shadows
High School anthology from Teachers Preparatory School (697K)
Edited by Sarah Dohrmann, Writer-in-Residence
Sarah Dohrmann is a Brooklyn-based writer of literary nonfiction whose work has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, Tin House Magazine, The Iowa Review, and New York, among others. She began teaching in the schools with T&W in 2001 and currently teaches at New York University; she also independently leads a personal nonfiction writing workshop called Diving Into the Wreck. After earning her MSW in June 2023, Sarah serves as a clinical social worker in the Domestic Violence Aftercare Program at University Settlement in New York City's Lower East Side.
