“Why do I have to sit away?”

I wonder, in my fish tank.

“Bad, bad, bad,” they say.

My heart simply sank.

I was only seven,

I never really knew why until I was eleven.

The teacher hit me,

Tied me to a chair,

Dad got in trouble, not Ms. Teacher, for me.

Mom didn’t seem to care.

The kids all stared,

In their scornful gaze, I hurt. I cared.

I left school, I never talked

To any kids my age until I was ten.

I never left the house, I never walked.

I never had toys, no Barbie, no Ken.

I just sat and read,

And then I sat and wrote.