Alana Krueger

Alana Krueger Poems

The Best Poem Of Alana Krueger

Fifth Grade: October 22,1985

in fifth grade
my teacher said
i talked too much

she used shears
and a metal spool
of extra-wide adhesive tape
to shut my mouth
zzzzip, snip...
zzzzip, snip...
zzzzip, snip...
zzzzip, snip...
zzzzip, snip...
zzzzzzip, snip...
zzzzip, snip...
in a crazy quilt of adhesive silence

that morning, other kids
looked
smirked
giggled
stared
and asked me questions
as i sat there mute
dumb, an unanswering mummy

that noon, mouthless
i couldn't eat lunch
i was a girl with no mouth
no mouth, no talking
no mouth, no lunch

that afternoon, another teacher
came to our room
to borrow some chalk
she saw my face
she stared and stared at me
but not a word to my teacher
about me or my condition

after school, in detention
the tape burned
as it finally came off

in the girls bathroom mirror
i stared at my own face
a network of red tape mark lines
my skin a map of martian canals
and grey adhesive stickum bits
that wouldn't come off
no matter how i scrubbed

at home, my mother noticed
the rubbery grey bits on my face
(the red had faded)
and i had to explain
how my teacher silenced me
with adhesive tape
but my mom interrupted:
'well, you probably had it coming! '

in my room, i cried and cried
silenced twice
in a single day

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