Dress Code

[Philatone]

V.2
S.2 l2 removed "the"
last line: switched "or" to "and"

S.4 last line
switched "sun" comparison to "carp in a pond"; switched carp in a pond to "a neighbor paints...railing"

S7. all new

S.8 new close with "dog" image

Dress Code


Uniforms did not stop
pimples in middle school
or ease swelling
in the playground;

when the bee stung your forehead,
your eye closed
like a red balloon,
floating through the stairwells
to the nurse for a shot
and a phone call home.

No uniform
I ever saw
hid crooked teeth or braces,
hair cuts or broken arms;

everyone wearing
everyone else's clothes
made those things bolder
the way a neighbor
paints over the rust on a railing,

so it was no surprise
when the names followed you
into the classroom, cluttered your desk
and waited at your locker.

"Alien" was the most popular,
followed by "Cyclops"
or (the less creative)
"Freak."

At first, the teacher
had to peel you away
from the bathroom mirror;
walked you to class
along a carpeted plank.

You shed the titles
when your eye opened;
returned them to their owners
like a dog
waiting to be taken off the leash.


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Original


Uniforms did not stop
pimples in middle school
or ease swelling
in the playground;

when the bee stung your forehead,
your eye was closed
like a red balloon,
floating through the stairwells
to the nurse for a shot
or phone call home.

No uniform
I ever saw
hid crooked teeth or braces,
hair cuts or broken arms;

everyone wearing
everyone else's clothes
made those things bolder
as a shot of sun
in an afternoon hallway,

so it was no surprise
when the names followed you
into the classroom, cluttered your desk
and waited at your locker.

"Alien" was the most popular,
followed by "Cyclops"
or the less creative
"Freak."

You shed
and returned them to their owners
when your eye opened,

and it stained
the only shirts
they ever wore to school
that year.