Art & Craft
I would figure out all the right answers
first, then gently mark a few of them wrong.
If a quiz had ten problems, I'd cancel
out one. When it had twenty, I'd bite my tongue
then leave at least two questions blank: _____ _____.
A B was good, but an A was too good.
They'd kick your ass, call your big sister
slow, then stare over your desk, as if you'd
snaked out of a different hole. Knowing
taught me—quickly—to spell community
more honestly: l-o-n-e-l-y.
During Arts and Crafts, when Miss Larson allowed
the scissors out, I'd sneak a pair, then cut
my hair to stop me from growing too long.
Copyright Credit: Robin Coste Lewis, "Art & Craft" from Voyage of the Sable Venus. Copyright © 2015 by Robin Coste Lewis. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
Source: Voyage of the Sable Venus (Alfred A. Knopf, 2015)