- Non-Erotic Poetry
- Choosing Sides
Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.
You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.
Click hereHe was always the final selection
when the captains were choosing their teams,
the one left over when others were picked
still stood by the wall, all alone;
not seeming to care what decisions were made,
wrapped up in some thoughts of his own
as footballing wizards debated at length
positions and placements where physical strength
wouldn't need to be frequently shown.
His desk was the one at the back of the room;
he took most of the blame for the pranks,
was mocked by the others - laughed at and teased
for the sad, vacant look on his face
each time that the teacher put down his book
and asked him to point to the place -
or even the page - he'd been reading aloud.
And each time he failed the jeers of the crowd
would announce yet another disgrace.
He was the one who went missing one day -
disappeared on his way home from school;
"Abducted!" they muttered, searching the fields,
the playgrounds and hills round the town
but, failing to find any sign of him there,
offered a communal frown
for a while - out of childish respect -
then thought of him less in the need to elect
someone else as their picked-upon clown.
His was the body, finally found
in some woods, many miles from his home;
Not kidnapped, not murdered: 'He just ran away
for no reason,' they said, '..so it seems.'
Not knowing the pain of rejection he'd felt
or the tears that he'd shed in abandoning dreams,
nor heard the bitter tears constrict
the prayer: "Please, God... let me be picked!"
When the captains were choosing their teams.
- COMMENTS
Anonymousalmost 6 years ago14 May 2018.
Please, please, please write more poetry and stories for us!
"The Teacher" and "Choosing Sides" are the two best of all of Literotica!
Far too good for just an erotic website! Please publish more! And have a major book publisher print them!
Then please make a note in your biography of the name you use to publish professionally!
Anonymousalmost 8 years agoIncredibly sensitive ! We often learn too late what our competitive egos do to others.
Very well written. Parents, take note to teach your children that it's not always important to always pick the better athlete. Teaching compassion will make your child a better person. Well done .
cabbie47about 11 years agoI also have to say that the construction of the poem was excellent. A very clever rhyming scheme - an easy, rhythmic flow - and the vocabulary was little short of stunning. Certainly one of the very best I've come across on this site.
Ashesh9about 11 years agoThis should not have taken place : the poet has been able to express the sorrow of a needless tragedy very beautifully !
Strapper66about 11 years agoWe've all been there at times in our life, on the short end in relationships, in friendships, in love, in acceptance. On the ouside looking in...
Conversely in some way, we've all ignored people around us, or taken them for granted, been less than kind for no reason, or just plain mean for no other reason than because we could. We are flawed human creatures...
I think there lurks both the lonely lost soul, and the bully, in all of us.
As you get older you realize your mistakes, what is right and what is wrong, but sadly, the scars and the damage is often permanent.
As children and teenagers, their brains not fully developed and their emotions on the edge of control, it is the responsibility of parents and teachers and elders to guide young minds to understanding, to teach them right from wrong.
There ARE teachers out there that care about their students, and go the extra mile.
There ARE parents and grandparents who still give the time in this busy crazy world.
And there ARE friends who guide you through the most innocent of trials and tribulations in life's experiences.
I'm very lucky, I've had many people help me along the way...
and I shall do my best to look for that lost, lonely child in all of us,
and help them, as others have helped me.
