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Edmonton 1958
I hear tight shoes clicking in the hallway
Miss Pauliuk’s coming in a mean way
Her grade two stress over PMS
Gets six kids bawling on a lean day
My classroom teeters on the border
Tipping on a temper growing shorter
Then judgement sinks in a physical blink
Rapidly revealing her disorder
That lady goes manic when the bell rings
I get a dull fear gut with a hot sting
She flips her lid on the petrified kids
Shivering in panic through the whole thing
Miss P is abusive as she pleases
To the slow boy everybody teases
He’s dumbstruck blind in a terrified mind
With his head back praying up to Jesus
Got her strap out, laid it on the big desk
After smoking in the staff room recess
Then a red rage scrawl on the blackboard wall
Made the weak ones crumble into pieces
I survive by blending in the background
Stay alive in a bubble of dead sound
I shield my brain as the hired insane
Educate the children in my hometown
[Jan 21, 2006]
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The
Poetry of Daniel Harrison