To date, the best poem I have read was written by The Stranger...

To date, the best poem I have read
was written by The Stranger as a child
The class was tasked to write a poem about "your future"
others wrote about being sport stars, movie stars, rock stars...
one kid wrote about turning in to an actual star
he was mocked mercilessly for his attempt at creativity
I think he developed a speech impediment because of it
my poem?
a solitary full stop
.
the week before my dog had perished
my adolescent mind came to the realisation that existence is inherently cruel
and I didn't want to live on...
... the day after grading I was moved to the ESL class
where I had middling success
I befriended an Iranian prodigy
who taught me a great lesson
how to lose at chess
and keep your dignity
which is a good thing as later on in life
I found myself being one of the lowest rated players in chess.coms entire database