Class
Pencils are whispering to paper.
When the girl stands in the back row,
she is a silhouette against the window,
framed by playing fields, netball posts,
tennis nets. She holds her hand before her,
where a blade glints, singing its sharpness
through the soft room, slicing its edge
across my eyes. She walks slowly,
offering me the pain, the beading scarlet line.
I’ve taught them to trust me,
tell me their sighs and their secrets.
What have I learnt? ‘When menaced,
in a state of threat, take a bunch of keys
into your hand to use as a weapon,’
I curl my fingers round their blunt
weight, hide my fist in my bag,
wonder how hard I should hit her.
When she’s near enough to smell
my fear, she lifts her head, eyes puzzled.
Look at this she says. Someone’s left it
on the desk. That’s dangerous Miss. You
take it. I’m glad she cannot see my hand,
the hurt it holds. The pencils go on whispering.
I’m the one with the knife.
Page(s) 40
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