What I Should Have Worn: Friday School Poem

What I Should Have Worn

First Grade

The former owner
Of our house
Was a hoarder

He lived alone
With the pizza ovens
From his failed

Restaurant slash bar
And a basement full
Of brown boxes

Of Budweiser glasses
And old clothes
From the fifties

Worn by kids
Who didn’t speak
To him anymore

My time was the 
Seventies but I wore
The dresses to school

With another find
A rabbit muff with
A white silk lining

I was playing
Victorian orphan in
The Atari age

At recess
My teacher told me
To find a friend

Before the 
Bell rang
I think she was also 

Autistic since you
Cannot get friends
With rabbit fur

Unless it's frontier 
Days or the 
Zombie Apocalypse

She also did
A demo 
To show that

The speed of sound 
Was slower over
Our playing field

From her air gun
Than from 
A flag she flashed

At the speed of light
From the fifty
Yard line

Thunder versus
Lightning, me
Bothering her

I was about as far
From my classmates
As my rabbit fur

Was from 
Their new Nikes
And Adidas shorts

I was flying my own
Flag she was
Waving her gun

--Ticky Kennedy
Reclusive Poet in Residence
SchoolNewsToday.com

NOTE

“Teachers are people and, like all people, have different levels of tolerance and empathy toward behaviors that are considered “abnormal.” For example, some teachers find it upsetting when a child with autism will suddenly talk too much about a special interest, and have trouble collaborating with peers.” 

Why School Is So Challenging for Children With Autism, Lisa Jo Rudy, VeryWellHealth

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