I think that it is incredibly important that we take bullying very seriously.
I know that when I was growing up, in government housing in Toronto in the 60’s, bullying was just a part of everyday life, at least for me. I actually thought it was normal and to be expected. Especially if you were different, and I was different.
I was an immigrant, I was Portuguese. In those days referred to as pork ‘n cheese. I was also androgynous looking, had chronic disfiguring eczema all over my face and body and in primary school was placed in the class for slow learners, mostly because I hadn’t yet learnt the language.
This led to my being physically and verbally bullied. Not just pushed and shoved, but actually punched, kicked and beaten and called some of the ugliest words I have ever heard to this day. What it did to me, apart from the bruises on my body, was create a lifetime of low self-esteem and scars of self-hate.
Early on I wrote the poem “Pork ‘n Cheese” to share my experience with bullying hoping that my sharing would help people to know and see that bullying hurts. That it can actually deeply emotionally scar another human being. I know that is what it did to me.
My plea to others is that we respect each other. Understanding that respect is not a privilege but a right that every human being should have. Don’t just say no, say NEVER to bullying. Help bring home the message that being different shouldn’t be a burden or source of pain and rejection. We need to accept our differences, even if we don’t understand them, because in one way or another we are all different and unique as human beings.
Pork 'n Cheese
You couldn't leave
You couldn't come home
They were there with their red smiles
With their fists and their hate
Waiting, hiding like a serpent in the grass
Cracking their filthy knuckles
Biting their wicked tongues
For just the chance
To catch her
Pork 'n Cheese
With her skinny, olive legs
And her eczema-eaten face
She was theirs
To taunt and to torture
To pound to her ugly knees
Because she was Pork 'n Cheese
They told her to go home
With their rocks and their stones
They sent her to hell
Because she was born
She was a threat
She was the enemy
What did she do?
She was Portuguese
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