Bobby, Me and the Cane

Sharon M. Carter

after Anne Marie Wells in a form created by Athena Liu

Maybe less sustained pain from solemn canings
                           [if]
I had ceased fidgeting behind my school desk, and
                           [only]
talked when spoken to? Me, high on life’s carousel—
                           [teachers]
had other plans—no recess, and a new location
                           [had]
me pinned between them and Bobby, a boy who
                           [understood]
the cane always remembered his name.
                           [Our]
parents thought the school knew best for taming
                           [wild]
ideas—sit, learn your ABC’s, while inside, our
                           [hearts]
began to bloom into bright but fragile orchids,
                           [and]
whatever others saw, few rarely saw us true.
                           [Let]
the past choke on regrets, our helplessness consumed
                           [us]
when confined to rule-bound tyrannies, we couldn’t
                           [run]

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Sharon M. Carter
Sharon M. Carter originates from Lancashire, England. She lives on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula and recently retired from a healthcare career. Her publications include, the Amsterdam Quarterly Review, Quartet, Raven Chronicles and One Art. Her poetry books are: “Quiver,” “Ekphrastic Pastiche,” and “Mimosas at Sunset,” (2026).