poem
Volume 28, Number 3

Honey, We Need to Talk About Lizzie

Yesterday,
the Steubens boy pushed her too hard
when they were playing tag
and pulled her hair.
We tried to explain—
the teacher and I, that is—
that Billy only pulled her hair because he likes her
but it didn’t stop her from having a tantrum
and eating half his dog.

And the week before
her teacher called me in to let me know
that she bit a finger off Andrew Nesbitt’s father
when he ruffled her hair and called her cute.

And don’t get me started on what she did
to the princess costume we bought for Halloween.

I guess we’ll have to write it off
as a classic case of girls will be girls.


—Olivia Romano