Lyric

Clock stuck

Ink stain on my thumb

Ceiling tile crack

That looks like it might run

Teacher reads

Words blur on the board

Shoelace frayed

Heart feeling bored and bored

Soft riot in homeroom

All quiet, but I’m not okay

Eyes rolling like marbles

Across this tired gray day

Soft riot in homeroom

Rebellion staying small, skin-deep

I pass a note that just says

“Can you even breathe?”

Tap tap

On the desk, off the beat

Tiny code

Only we can read

She sighs

Writes “focus” by my name

I erase it slow

Like I’m sanding down the frame

Soft riot in homeroom

All quiet, but I’m not okay

I underline the margins

Till the paper starts to fray

Soft riot in homeroom

Blank stare, but I don’t agree

I hum a song I made up

Till it drowns her speech

Window won’t open

So air just spins

We trade quick glances

Like passing pins

Nobody shouting

Nobody brave

Just a room of statues

Planning tiny escapes

Soft riot in homeroom

All quiet, but I’m wide awake

Desk armies in my notebook

Marching off the page

Soft riot in homeroom

Held breath, like we’re all at sea

Her voice keeps on droning

But my mind slips free