Cracked - Lex Capestany (2022

By Lex Capestany

The pavement bears the wounds of time A root bound by stone struggles to break free. The concrete is peppered with gum, ground into the rock from decades of footsteps.

The sidewalk knows all. If you listen close enough you can hear its stories. Races have been won here. Punches have been thrown. Children have played.

The street is but an observer, free of judgment. It is unmoving, static, yet defined by motion.

Student (in the style of “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid)

By Anonymous

Be sure to pack all of your books in your backpack the night before so you can be ready to leave in the morning; be sure to eat a healthy breakfast to give you energy for the day; be sure to get your homework done on the bus and don’t get distracted; are you bringing your lunch to school or buying it today?; be sure to show up on time to make a good impression on your teachers; be sure to join clubs so you meet new people and make friends; be sure to turn your homework in on time and get good grades; be sure to space out your studying so you remember the material better; do you know what you want to do after college? that’s okay, you still have plenty of time to figure it out; how are your classes going?; be sure to get nine hours of sleep every night; the end of the year is coming up, be sure that you have all A’s; congratulations on your 4.0 GPA, we’re so proud of you; don’t worry, sophomore year will be harder than freshman year but not as hard as junior year; be sure to attend these summer camps to get a PE credit; be sure to show up on time to make a good impression on your teachers; be sure to get your homework done on the bus and not get distracted; do you know what you want to do after college? that’s okay, you still have time to figure it out; don’t start slacking off just because you’re online now; do you even go to school at this point?; the end of the year is coming up, be sure that you have all A’s; congratulations on your 4.0 GPA, we’re so proud of you; be sure to enjoy your summer now, junior year is going to be hard; are you just going to sit around on your phone all day?; everywhere is closed, what else am I supposed to do?; do you know what you want to do after

college? that’s fine, you have some time left to figure it out; take a sixth honors class instead of that elective, it’ll look better on your transcript; take this science elective instead of your study hall since you obviously don’t need it; how are your classes going?; be sure to develop relationships with your teachers so they can write recommendations for you; be sure to put in your best effort this year because it’s the most important one; don’t post that, colleges might see it; the end of the year is coming up, what’s this A- in history? you’re going to get that up, right?; be sure to stay strong, you’ve got this; I’m trying to, it’s just a hard class; you’re almost done with junior year; you wanted me to take hard classes, right?; a 3.97 GPA is still great, we’re so proud of you; you deserve a restful summer; have you started on your essays yet?; don’t I get to enjoy my summer?; be sure to get a parking pass because I am not driving you to school; take this summer course, it’ll look good for colleges; are you sure you can manage all of these activities? you’re going to be very busy; where do you want to go for college?; do you know where you are applying to yet?; you need to think about that, you don’t have much time left to figure it out; how are your essays going?; do you like your teachers?; be sure to stay on top of your homework; do not select “undecided” for your career goal, you have to think of something; do not say you want to work in college, it makes it seem like you need the money; colleges like families that have money; November 1st is coming up, are you going to have everything ready by then?; you’re going to stay on top of your grades this year, right?; do you have your parking pass?; how are your essays going?; are you really going to eat that whole thing by yourself?; how come you never want to come downstairs and talk to us? how do you already have a D?; be sure to

get enough sleep; if you don’t get enough sleep, everything else will fall off; but what if I don’t exactly know what I want to do? you mean to say that after all this you are really going to be the kind of person that doesn’t know exactly what you want to do?

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