MIddle School Talent Show

social suicide

be-damned, courage starts early

some things are worth boos

Middle school talent show brings out awkward. Instrumental pop-punk performance. A girl sings along to a recording of her brother’s guitar, only a slight tremble in her voice. Blank stares from students and teachers. After technical problems the projector plays a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean while the theme is played on a flute by a 4’10 girl in a rainbow dress. Dads beam with ancient camcorders. Boys with big ears play piano. The “Cultural-Club” danced a hula. A girl in thick glasses and braids plays Beethoven—a thick Russian accent whispers to his right “you know she’s a lesbian”—this earns him a talk with an already annoyed principal. Classical music washes over the boys in football jerseys like salt on a slug. After the writhing an all too serious girl walks up to the mic in high heels and an acoustic guitar. Explains the genesis of her song—a shooting death in Arizona. The song is called “Tears.” A fourteen-year-old girl sings a theodessey, with the word injustice in the chorus. The Vegie-girls end the mandatory assembly with a song called “Salad of Doom.”

cynical teacher

somehow learns to admire

girls dressed like carrots