Right it Here

School counselor calls
could you come up here right away
daughter
crying in class
can’t do her times tables
with these fears swirling in her 9 year old brain
Fourth graders lined up
she blends in with the others
except for the red puffy eyes
and the dimple on the left like yours
Amid black history month
colorings of MLK and Rosa Parks
it comes like the pangs of 19 hours of labor
your labor with her
for her
You cannot save her and the
cruel
ironyof your efforts
end here
You talk about this day
speak as fast as your head can
find the careless words
But to write it
to record it
to right it
Well thenit becomes your
honest
packaged
under-your-skin
story