the glue girl

or
the unanswered questions of a six-year old

mom, why does she do that?
why does she need to
rub the brown glue
from the big bottle
between her palms
and go sniffffff at it?

mom, why does she do that?
why does she need to
paint her nails with
the brown glue from
the big blue bottle
using the
plastic bristled brush
and keep scratching
her nostrils with them?

mom, don't you know
a-nee-thinngg?
teacher got her to
help with work,
you know sushila teacher
from ukg?
she is her daughter
from college.

she makes a mistake
everytime she is
writing our cards.
she's so dumb.
then she uses white ink
from a bottle
with red sticker to
erase her red pen writing.

mom, but why would
she go snifffffff
on sketch pens?
she can't write
two lines of home work
on white board
without a mark
on her nostril!

mom, why?

we know she is frail but
why would she eat chalk?
she even eats her lunch
with her mom!
doesn't she give her food?

mom, why did she go
snifffffff
on some chalk powder?
she bled from nose,
then they took her
in an ambulance,
you know?

mom, why?

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