A Hollow Victory (Rev.) Poem by Margaret Alice

Twelve years old and having fun writing
essays, NOBODY gets full marks for
composition we are told, but that
was fine with everyone

When we hand them in she reads each
out aloud in class without the
author’s name; the class awarded
the grades, when mine was read

I got full marks, was stupefied, yet
silence reigned, our teacher remained
speechless like the Sphinx, not a word
of praise, I went home dazed

What could it mean, she said it never
happens and it did, I was shivering
inside, why didn’t she put the strange
event in some kind of perspective?

It gave me such a weird feeling, when it
happened again – full marks and not a word,
no congratulations, I buried everything;
unable to figure out what it meant…

Was she angry with me for breaking her rule?
And if she was, why didn’t she say anything?
Essay-writing became a hollow victory…