It’s freezing tonight!
When it’s this cold,
my thoughts turn again
to you, Miss Winter.
Grade One teacher,
Grade A sadist, you liked
bringing the bending cane
down briskly, to sting
our six-year-old palms
for any reason.
You taught us all year,
but in my memory
it was always winter.
Your name filled the world.
Even your face
and voice chilled me.
I thought I’d never
be warmed.
[Poem #11]
be warmed.
[Poem #11]
I'll be sharing this (long after it was written) with Friday Writings #116 at Poets and Storytellers United, where we are prompted 'to write about someone who made an impression on you as a child (for good or ill).'
A portrait of a chilling person. My husband experienced the same here in NZ They used a strap, a cane and a ruler to hit him or others, mainly on the hands
ReplyDeleteThank goodness that era is past!
DeleteGrade One teacher, / Grade A sadist: Oh dear...she sounds terrible, though I smiled at the way you've put it!! Am so glad they can't do it in schools anymore...
ReplyDeleteIt was considered normal and acceptable, but usually a last resort. She, however, visibly enjoyed it.
DeleteHey there Rosemary, A chilling recreation of the kind of monster that most of us have come across at some point in our lives. You came through it - that's the thing. She didn't rob you of your warmth and ability to be warm - so the triumph is yours... Light over the darkness...
ReplyDeleteThank you, Scott (I think!). True, it was only a year in my life. However, I never forgot her.
DeleteWinter describes her perfectly. Crisp, slippery, snappy, chilling and far too cold and threatening for a young impressionable mind.
ReplyDeleteYes, all of those things – and it was her actual name!
DeleteThe right name for her. So cold! And people like that can make such an impact on us when we are so young.
ReplyDeleteI lived in terror – and the impression was so indelible that I have remembered her for the rest of my life, even though the emotional charge is long gone.
DeleteI love how this began so many years ago [well not that you are ancient, still quite young at heart] I am sorely tempted to compose a poem of 82 words! No child should ever receive corporal punishment by a truly wicked teacher. I recall vividly the day our youngest son told us his first grade nun teacher hit him over his open palms. You've never seen parents hike it so quickly to that school! Cheers to you Rosemary.
ReplyDeleteBravo to your son's parents!!!
DeleteAn awful reality that so many suffered...Pleased you wrote about it.....Rall
ReplyDeleteI always loved that bumper sticker that said:
DeleteWRITERS
have the last word.
Ugh, Miss Winter. I think I knew her, had one of those teachers with the paddle. "
ReplyDelete"You taught us all year,
but in my memory
it was always winter."
Well said, Rosemary. I can still feel the shame and confusion. "What did I do wrong?"
Probably very little, or maybe nothing. Miss Winter didn't waste any time making sure her punishments were justified – much less listening to excuses, explanations or denials.
DeleteOh, also, I want that bumper sticker!!!
ReplyDeleteYou have it now – in your mind if not on your vehicle. You don't HAVE to exercise that advantage, but it 's a great mood-improver just to know you could. Or so I have found, over the years.
DeleteI remember only one teacher who spanked, it was a new boy for swearing. And no rulers or canes. My dad used a strap once on me but often a box on the ear for nothing that I could tell. Surely he wasn't taught that at home?
ReplyDelete..
In some ways the human race HAS evolved (though the world picture doesn't always seem to support that view).
DeleteHow childhood memories of pain remain forever.
ReplyDeleteYes, indelibly. Also of injustice.
DeleteIt reminds me of Mrs. Brown, our Maths teacher
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you too had such a teacher.
DeleteYes, teachers. They stay with us for ever. Good and bad.
ReplyDeleteNice to see you here, Cosmo!
DeleteYes, luckily I have also had some very good teachers.
I finished reading with a snarl. I had a teacher like this. She was a beast. She didn't scare me as much as she infuriated me. But I remember the sense of powerlessness I used to feel in her presence. As your poem suggests, as if she filled the whole world... In my pettiest grownup moments, I find myself wishing them a very lonely life.
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, I have never doubted that Miss Winter must have had a lonely, disappointing life even then, as well as forever after – how could such a person ever find happiness or peace?
DeleteMy last poem also began with winter and freezing. Such characters are present all over the world it seems. It's so sad when teachers are like this.
ReplyDeleteSuch an important job, especially with the youngest children, one would hope they might be chosen better.
DeleteA surprise, since I assumed impressions are positive, even when the prompt says otherwise. I am shocked what schools were allowed to do, and unfortunately some still are. I grew up in a state (US) where it wasn't allowed.
ReplyDeleteI am glad there are places where it is not allowed! In Australia, too, I'm glad to say, it has been banned for decades now.
DeleteI bet you can still feel a chill thinking of her.
ReplyDeleteA bit of a shudder, yes.
DeleteYes, good as well as bad will leave on our minds a lasting impression. An impressing poem, Rosemary.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Delete