Fifth-Grade Memory: Posters
when our teacher told us one of our class
won the city-wide 5th grade safety poster
contest I knew of course that it was me
but surprise, it was my good friend
nona smith who won with her picture
of an open medicine cabinet with
bottles of different sizes lined up on
the shelves I was glad for nona for
I instantly realized her warning to be
wary of medications appealed more
to the general public than my kid in a
leafy tree with the slogan “don’t climb on
dangerous branches” no matter how well
drawn for most viewers wouldn’t be in
trees but everybody looks in cabinets
it’s a lesson I’ve never forgotten nor will
I ever forget nona’s incredulous smile
2022 Jacqueline Jackson
This article appears in Pipeline protests.
