Only eleven, I faced terrible odds in school:
mean-spirited teachers who were uncaring
                        and not too cool.
Sixth grade was a rough year for me:
the brunt of jokes and teacher’s unwanted student
                        She waited to see
how much I’d take of her negative comments.
I went home for lunch daily, ate a cheeseburger with onions,
                        then a mint.
Returning to school one day I had a question to ask,
and went up to her desk while others were quiet.
                        She started her task
when I asked what I thought was a simple act,
but she said to me:  “Turn your head the other way;
                        your breath makes me sick as a cat.”
I was embarrassed, confused and hurt by what I heard,
but I turned my head anyway and finished my question
                        sat down with not another word.
I broke my left wrist before school ended that spring day,
and used my right hand for penmanship time--
                        She flunked me anyway.
I will never forgive her for what she did to me,
How she made my life miserable day after day.
                        She’s dead now and only a memory.

(c) 2006 George E Thompson