FicWad

Of that inert and dry silent spent after yet another test we’d drag our feet through
The disruption of your head slamming against the wood table
Like my grandfather knocking on wood for luck
Maybe the librarian shoulda let you keep going
Because even I can’t let go of what happened next

A worry wrinkling skin and biting chapped lips
Words in a book blurring as the sounds grew louder
A bang and a whimper and again and a bang and a whimper and again
When the table was gone you went to your own fist instead
Didn’t stop until tears ran down your cheeks and grunts turned into cries

You were sent outside where we wouldn’t have to see
You were sent away and when the dam came crashing down
Your howls sounding as if someone grabbed your throat
As if the sky had been ripped away and the sun was burning retinas
And you cried and you cried and you cried yourself out

I wrote maddeningly, enough to ward off that awful noise
And you came back hiccupping and worn for wear
As the hour drained like water into five minutes, two seconds
Your smile and joke and wit were back, slipped on like a glove
No one will talk about it, probably didn’t even notice

But I was watching you as your heartstrings played that poor song
A kid lost from a father’s disappointment and his heavy hand
It won’t be quick forgetting those iced whining warbles
Not even with the laugh on your face so natural