we had a third grade
bully who kicked our
shins with her
wooden clogs
and pulled our hair
so we came up
with a plan to
steal her lunch
tickets she
bought on
Mondays for
35 cents each
and turned in for
the count each
day
she was a
child of addiction
poverty without
a mother ~ but a
grandmother
raising her
working hard
to make ends
meet for this
girl, angry at
the world
and not enough
clogs and
shins to fix it
and now
that I see life
from this side
I feel
deep sorrow
for our theft
because we
only hurt
grandma
and our
future
selves
who would
come to
know the
truth
Common Threads 