Kindergarten

The bookshelves
hid me perfectly
No one could see,
then he dug his
teeth into me

Dirty nose,
he’s a bastard
flopped to the floor
we were class-less
White kids in masses

Mornings were cold
inside the classroom
We held her shoes
while she read
and I didn’t want
to wear my hair up

I swallowed my words
at breakfast
Then puked them
up after school-
Mute-invested.

I knew more then
Life felt backward

What was I hiding from?
Their faces?
Would I die if I
could face this?
Double-knot laces

Air hit the back
of my neck
This was tasteless

I hid behind the same bookshelves
Where he bit me,
where she hid with me
where I cried for my mother
because she had never
left me

I wondered what would
happen if I spoke
with my own tongue

And when the
words finally came
out they could
barely see me