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Poetry | March 2018

At the Parent-Teacher Meeting

By Carolyn Harris Zukowski

I hunch and wait. Small chair, small desk.
A loud clock ticks in the afterschool hush.
Lunch monies due Monday! the chalkboard
squeals. The walls echo her sturdy shoes.

Putting pen to paper, I note what the teacher
deems most important: precision.
I fidget at a slower pace might do him good,
and pull the frayed seams on my skirt.

I think: What has happened to my voice?
but nod and take my leave, my face
dyslexic. I’ve betrayed him with my reticence
to boast his extra-curricular abilities–

how he identifies each fungus, fruit, or flower,
plays the piano by ear, draws near-perfect suits
of armor, and knows how to coax
a slow worm into his calm, unshaking hand.

1 reply on “At the Parent-Teacher Meeting”

Nancy Harrissays:
March 27, 2018 at 9:28 am

A wonderful poem defining a teacher’s expectations of a student as just “precision,” as though he were a robot; while the Mom portrays her ability to understand her child’s creativity and special skills continually lost in the learning process at school.

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