Elementary School (a pivotal moment)

Robert Lee Brewer asked us to create a poem based on an "aha" moment (shades of Oprah!). This was one of the formative moments of my childhood.



ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LESSON

I knew a lot by second grade
The alphabet, counting to one hundred
How to write my name in cursive, and perfectly
What not to try to flush down the toilet
(for example, all my broccoli smuggled in via dinner napkin)
How kittens get born

One thing I didn’t know
was something the whole class learned at the same time

The grownups were mumbling something about
President Kennedy
A grownup was sobbing in the hall
and Mrs. Darrow almost fainted

Until second grade
I didn’t know that teachers were allowed to cry

© 2010 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil