Day Twenty-one

Today's words:
teacher
false teeth
escape
end
glasses
bundle

My kindergarten teacher
Was scary. She was old, and had false teeth.
But there was no escape -
I was now in the school system. No telling when that would end.
She also had big glasses.
She was just a bundle

Of creepiness. I was only four years old then. I carried a bundle
Of my things with me at all times. My teacher
Didn't like that. She stared at me through her glasses
And her false teeth
Whistled as she said, "We're putting an end
"To this. Leave it home." Oh, how I longed to escape!

My best friend tried to escape
By running away from home with all her things in a bundle.
In the end
They caught her, but she did get a new teacher.
My mother said I shouldn't mind the false teeth
And forget about the glasses.

But still they bothered me. Then the doctor said I needed glasses.
Things went from bad to worse. Later I would escape
Through reading, but I really couldn't yet. I pictured her false teeth
Out of her mouth, in a bundle
By the side of her bed. Yes, that teacher
Scared me, but in the end

I suppose she was OK. In the end
I got used to wearing glasses
And wasn't as afraid of my teacher.
I stopped trying to escape
And left my bundle
At home. Only the false teeth

Still creeped me out. I bought a set of those wind-up false teeth
That chatter and left them on the end
Of her desk. That wasn't nice. I was certainly no bundle
Of joy either. Looking back through the glasses
Of time, I'm sure she longed to escape 
From her life as a teacher.

Yes, even with the false teeth and glasses
In the end we all want to escape
Our everyday bundle of care, but experience is a harsh teacher.