POEM: choking in piqua

choking in piqua

in the 1st grade i hated cornbread.

it would stick in my throat.

i would always be out of milk

and unable to wash it down

so it just stayed lodged there.

as did sister mary so and so 
towering over-

head 
commanding "we must finish our lunches

think of the starving children in new guinea"

but i could only think of this one kid

me

choking in piqua.

the cafeteria would slowly begin to empty:

first my oldest sister, nodding encouragement

then a neighbor girl, pointing and laughing

then a younger sister, smiling 

leaving me

with a black and white nun

and a black and white world.

making it all very clear:

i would have a hard time swallowing this

but swallow i would.

(from the chapbook TRYING TO UNRAVEL SOMETHING, ANYTHING, 1998; color photo, 2002 by Suzanne Gourlie; black & white photo (detail), 2008 by me)