Saturday, September 12, 2009

Friends in Room 304
By Nory Klop-Packel

No one has ever heard
The song of wind whistling through the labyrinth of branches

No one has ever seen
The black bird cutting through the cold night air

No one has ever felt
The soft touch of a warm blanket

No one cried
When the snail room 101 kept as a class pet was washed away by the river currents

No one helped out
When the art supplies spilled all over the hallway
And into the open door of the classroom
And out the window
And into the night air

And that is why
Paint splattered all over the sidewalk
And only the students of room 304 cleaned it up

There is no room 304

And no one has ever tasted
Robin’s hot fudge cake
When the recipe was spreading over America
Only room 304 went on the computer to print out the recipe
Along with rooms 405, 333, 567, and 888

The school building only goes up to 209

And no one visited Lisa when she was in the hospital
Except that room 405 made a class trip of it

And when the science teacher quit
(because of disrespectful kids)
No one cried
No one made a card for her
But in art
Room 304 did just that

And everyone never studied
Never shopped for school supplies
And got very low grades on tests
And they were actually ranked the least smart students in the district
In the state
In the country

Compliments were for other schools
And rooms 304, 405, 333, 567, and 888

And the school closed
And opened again
And the teachers never got praise
But for homework
Room 304 got assigned the creation of a compliment blog

But no one other than that

And no one else changed

And no one has ever found out
Why room 304 does everything they’re supposed to
But they don’t deserve it
The other students do

No one has ever felt
What it is like to be friends
And hear the unhearable
And see the unseeable
And feel the unfeelable
And cry when someone has suffered a loss
And help when help is needed
And taste famous recipes
And build room 304

7 comments:

mom-mom said...

Wow! I love it! Keep at it, Nory!!!
Love you to the max!

Mom-Mom

John Packel said...

Nory, your poetry is beautiful and so mature that there are aspects of it I don't quite understand. However, one thing is clear to me: you do belong in Room 304.

Love, Pop-pop

monkeysmama said...

This is fantastic! Well-written piece of prose here =)

Anonymous said...

Wow. It has power. I want to be the teacher in room 304!

You make us proud, Nory.

jillsmo said...

This poem is INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!

Corinne said...

Nory

I love this poem! Sounds like you loved room 304! Keep writing! Edphs to you

From Corinne:)

Corinne said...

Nory

I love this poem! Sounds like you loved room 304! Keep writing! Edphs to you

From Corinne:)