The one word that sends terror
Into the hearts of students everywhere.
That and "test"
"Quiz"
"Homework"
But the word above all else
Is poetry.

Some do not understand.
Some confuse.

But what scares me most of all
Are the feelings,
The reactions.

Someone's soul, sitting there on the page,
Screaming up at me.

And I feel my shell, my mask,
so carefully cultivated,
Ripping, tearing.

Until right above my heart, the center of my chest,
There is a hole.
And I feel a terrible tingling nakedness,
Scared of my vulnerability

As a little of my soul, my heart,
Goes out
To scream back
At those dangerous little black letters
Sitting on that page.