Friends in Room 304
By Nory Klop-Packel
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
