First Presentation

All those eyes
looking at me --
my classmates,
meek as lambs too.
Their eyes filmy
with distant voids
sharing their shock for me
when the teacher
calls my name...
her eyes pierce mine
like flying daggers
that aim at me.

I hide under the table --
try not to receive
their condemnation.
No solid closet
with locking door
to crawl into.
Only wide spaces
between chair legs
to peek through.
She repeats my name.
I cannot do it...
even if demon hands
grab me by the shirt,
drag me out on the floor,
scoot and shove me
to the front of the room,
I cannot do it.

No whispering,
no fingers pointing,
just dumbfounded faces
that stare at this girl
too shy to go up there
for her first presentation.

(Author's note: This memory dates back to my early elementary school days.)