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Sick and Tired

School is hard right now.
Every thing my body feels makes me wonder,
"Do I have a disease that kills people?"
But I can't stay home with each thing I feel.
I'd be home more than I'd be at school.
My colleagues would have to take on my classes
because who wants to be a substitute teacher in a petri dish?

So, I clench my teeth,
go to work,
and get a headache from clenching my teeth,
or is it a headache from COVID?

Then I listen as one student asks if she can take five minutes to cry,
as another starts breathing rhythmically because she has fallen asleep,
as another teaches me about her mom's mental illness,
as another tells me that black is the ugliest color
     and she is black,
and as another updates me on her dad's brain cancer. I'm honored they trust me with their hurt.


There's just so much
hurt
and
fear.

We are sick and tired of being sick and tired.


Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

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