R.G. Evans illustrates how adults can be bullied as well; and how they can come out of it triumphant.
—
The Principal
for J.M.
Walrus, some kids would say
and snicker behind his back.
Hey, Mr. Monopoly!
one called then ran into the lav.
Some of the more literate
whispered, Here comes the Lorax
as he walked with his clipboard
through the high school halls.
He was the new principal,
a cipher to the staff,
a joke to all the kids.
A man with a moustache
like Yosemite Sam’s.
When he left eight years later,
retired from public schools
to headmaster at a Catholic K-8,
his office filled with stuffed Loraxes
and plastic, monocled Monopoly Men,
all anyone remembered was his eyes,
soft, brown, and human,
kind as an unmartyred saint’s.
He sent a video, a pep rally
at his new school, children chanting
Fear the ‘stache! Fear the ‘stache!
as he walked among them
pumping his fists, his eyes
like stars above the smile
that all accept on faith.
***
R.G. Evans has published several poems with us. Check out more of his work here.
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Photo by Eli Duke /Flickr