Why Me?

I don’t get it.

I just don’t get it.

Why me?

—

I mind my own business.

I stay out of their business.

Why me?

—

I’m so insignificant.

They are oh so significant.

Why me?

—

I don’t hurt a flea.

Yet they cause me to flee.

So why

—

I want them to stop.

But they never will stop.

So why?

—

I go ask my Dad.

And he really got mad.

He said:

—

It’s not about you.

And it’s all about them.

Just be.

—

It’s they who don’t get it.

But you’ve totally got it.

Just be.

—

Give them some space.

A chance to save face.

Just be.

—

Until then be strong.

It is they who are wrong.

Just be.

—

I tried to stop asking “why me”?

And I tried to simply “just be”.

You know?

—

On some days I’m strong.

Feel someday I’ll belong.

You know?

—

On days when that just doesn’t work.

I feel such a pitiful jerk.

You know?

—

They still do not get it.

But they think that they’ve got it.

You know?

—

Because I’m intact.

Doing better in fact,

Since rising above all that shit.

—

Topics for Discussion:

• Why is it so helpful to enlist the aid of an adult? Did this parent help? What else could he have done?
• How can you decide who has the problem? Me or him/her? How does this help you deal with the situation?
• What is a “strong sense of self” and how can that help you navigate social interactions?

Activities:

• Try imagining the scenario, following the poem and plot your anxiety levels on graph paper.Using a red pencil, crayon or marker, scribble your response to the poem on a long, blank sheet of paper. Try to read a trend from your scribble.
• Describe a bullying situation and then write a list of adjectives to describe the emotions both the bully and the victim might feel. Do any of the adjectives coincide?