I am.
determined
creative
professional.
I don’t.
need a great name
even though I already have one.
I don’t.
need you to plan my life
or tell me what I should and shouldn’t do.
I am.
intelligent and capable.
—A masters degree
not in camp counseling
not in chaperoning
English teacher am I.
A strong oak
standing powerfully firm—alone
I don’t.
need you telling me
where to walk
how to be
who to be
I am
determined
creative
professional.
I am not you.
I am me.
Me.
ME.
Sonia Chintha is an Indian American writer who lives in the Washington DC area. She blogs, writes poetry, and fiction. She is also an English teacher who believes that our experiences teach us more than any test. She is the founder and co-editor of Good Little Girls.
Art by Katryna Carter In Defiance by Katryna Carter Nope. I refuse. I refuse to be a machine. I refuse to follow. I refuse to
brick by brick it builds on its own each year completely independent of me and my life oblivious, I carry on working, grading, planning, teaching,