wet feet

I remember soggy socks crowded into tight boots
with a hole the size of a quarter
sucking in snow, slush, water
feet cold blue prunes
the socks are always dark so no one can tell
how wet they are though they may hear
the squish as I walk
change into my runners
still cold, still wet
the teacher mocks me
the runners have a dark plastic band
he says it looks like garbage bags
he doesn't know that we put our feet
in plastic bags before putting them in boots
but that doesn't stop the water coming in
he hates me because I told my mom
he called us pigs
because the girls in grade 5 left our
winter clothing in the bathroom
we had no lockers
and we had to wear dresses in those days
in Catholic school you weren't a girl
unless your knees showed
so we wore jeans under our dresses
and left them to dry
in the girls bathroom
which is where they were
when the folks from the school board
toured the school
why they went into the girls bathroom
I'm sure I don't know
so our teacher and principal
called us pigs
made us feel dirty and stupid
like we had a choice
and I told mom
I was furious and crying
They tell us what to wear, what to do, who to be
but they don't care if our feet are blue
and our jeans are wet
and we have no place to call our own
my mom called the principal
she told him off good
how dare he call her daughter a pig
and he'd better get us lockers
and a place to hang our jeans
no bare knees when its ten below
and she told him and the teacher
to apologize
so they hate me
and I hate them
my jeans hang in a locker
my feet stay wet all winter

(c)2018 by Catherine Elder