Rousing Anthem In Spoken Word

Dear typical inside-the-box middle schooler,

I go uncredited
in your movie of life, off stage,
off camera,
off track.

Coming back from lunch,
in the hallway outside of the cafeteria,
Jyden asks for the 237th time,
Why did you paint your nails?
I say, I’ve already answered this.
Are you gay?
No, but I wouldn’t care if I was.
Why did you paint your—
Get out of my face!

Why did you paint your nails?

Honestly, I like the regions
of my creativity, their ebb
and flow, the risks I take that you
don’t even know are possible.
It’s better than where you are,
sitting on your ass,
playing video games
and eating chips.

My projects are the words
rising to the surface
of my synapses, the play
that’s not been written,
the nails I need to paint.
All this can and will
outrun you someday.

I will remember you
as someone who
was just another obstacle,
nameless and uncredited.

Rainer Pasca reads “Rousing Anthem In Spoken Word”

Rainer Pasca has been writing since he was 4 and has been published in several literary journals: The Louisville Review, Stone Soup, Skipping Stones, Balloons Literary Journal. Rainer also appeared numerous times as a “Presidential Expert” on the Ellen Show. He loves to rap and act and is currently an 8th grader. Recently, he was a performer in Shakespeare in the Park’s 2018 production of Twelfth Night.