Excerpts
from
The Taking of Room 114
Morton Potter, Junior (page 100)
Being fat is a sin,
Original sin.
Here in class I sit on the chair,
Barely,
With parts of me hanging over the sides.
I am positive no one
Will ever get close to me,
Even if that were humanly possible.
It’s not like I don’t want to lose weight.
You name the diet and I’ve tried it.
But waves of blubber always return
To lap against my body.
I sit alone in the middle
Of an ocean of fat.
It is a sin what has happened to me,
What I’ve let happen.
I’m tired of pulling my weight
Around.
Devonne Elliot, Freshman (page 146)
My name has a shadow attached to it.
Four years before I was born
My parents buried a baby boy
Who died when he was fifteen months old.
His name was Devon.
They speak of him sometimes:
How he walked before he was a year old,
How he had just started to talk,
How his smile made you smile in return.
Amid tears, they bring out his photo album
On his birthday and in the afternoon
Place flowers on his small grave.
My parents treat me like a fragile package.
I bring home excellent grades.
My parents are pleased,
But I know the unstated question:
What great triumphs
Would Devon have brought home?
