I Love Miss Peck —
Why Does She Hate Me Today?

In this dark room
the door is closed
I hear my classmates' laughter
on the other side and
try not to cry out
as the teacher tugs and pulls
at the knots in my hair

My favourite horse pin
sits high on my collar
but when I look down I see
head hung low
big horse eye watery with tears

Cobwebs fall from my head
make piles around my feet
like the nests of the rats
that live in my hair

After school I'll go home
put my head on the butcher's block
and with my mother's meat cleaver
hack off this long blonde hair
bury it in the trash

Today is class picture day
which means one last picture
before I'm done wearing these secrets on my head