When I got it wrong at schoolmissed
a word， could not recite
the long pision tablesI would lock
my knees beneath my little plywood desk
in back where all the tall ones sat，
and sneak1 my uniform sleeve up
and bite down on my forearm， make myself
keep quiet， doing that， not
crying； gnashing hard with my gapped teeth
until the dotted O sunk in
because I couldnt hold my breath，
so had to clench2 my skin while no sobs3 flayed4
my lungs： those lightless rooms
where loud girls kept themselves，
and stayed unsorry.
