Straitjackets - Maupin House Publishing

Straitjackets
With wild eyes
And a voice reed thin and brittle,
She whispered through the iron bars of a padded cell:
“I had everything under control —
Thematic units,
Bulletin boards,
Child-centered seating,
And then they came,
Twenty-five small children,
Twenty-five children known now, far and wide,
As the second grade from hell!
Rainbows, Head Lice, and Pea-Green Tile • by Brod Bagert
www.maupinhouse.com • 1-800-524-0634

“They should have come with a consumer warning…
They should have come with a cattle-prod!
Two hours…
It took two hours
To coax me out of the closet.
I stepped forth,
Wide-eyed and stunned,
As they wrapped long sleeves behind my back
And fastened leather straps.
“Straightjackets!
I hissed.
That’s what I needed all along.
Twenty-five, little-bitty straightjackets.
“Once it was all so different.
I had everything under control.”