The Educator

Some lessons last a lifetime.

 

THE EDUCATOR

 

It was a special treat she gave herself

Making big eyes of little girls plead

With a voice as cold, as the wind from the bay

She said Heather it’s your turn to read

 

A caustic smile and piercing eyes

A countenance of hate

Mrs. Cameron , a viper coiled

Anxious to educate

 

A timorous and reluctant child

Rises from her seat

A tortured look adorns her face

Her eyes filled with defeat

 

A hushed collective snicker

Electrifies the air

The peer sing sound of ridicule

Fill her with despair

 

Each word, a separate challenge

Even those she use to know

Fear punctuates each sentence

With pages left to go

 

A small trace of resistance

Resides in Heather’s jaw

A vestige of determination

Refusing to withdraw

 

Her lip begins to quiver

Against the inner pain

She tightens every muscle

Her face telegraphs the strain

 

Mrs. Cameron is outraged

At Heather’s hesitation

She reads it as defiance

And not self-preservation

 

A vitriolic outburst

And a slap to Heather’s face

Force the tears from Heather’s eyes

The ultimate disgrace

 

Stripped naked of her dignity

Her book falls to the floor

Her teacher’s hand upon her hair

When she clearly can’t take more

 

You stupid little ne…

She screams, her sentence not completed

A broken child is finally granted

Permission to be seated

 

Your hair is just like wire

Mrs. Cameron quips

There’s hatred now in Heather’s eyes

And rage behind her lips

 

She leaves it there to fester

She’s enraged, but she's no fool

She’s small and black in 62

In a Nova-Scotia School

Reviews

[Spilled Her Guts in Cur..]

Wow that was powerful stuff. surprising ending, too. Great write!