The Educational Psychologist puts it in context
to a room full of teachers. He defines the complex
problem of children, disordered and unruly.
I raise my hand, ‘Please Sir –
would you have judged me so shrewdly?’

What would you have seen in that kooky, choosy,
screwy, fruity, moody, loony teen?
What would I have been if you put me in a box
and tried to unlock the paradox
of this disruptive chatterbox?

A genius with Aspergers, or ADHD,
oppositional defiant, with a conduct disability.
A strong willed drama diva,
with ‘how to behave’ amnesia?

Each day I went home with
a general adaptation syndrome
and a touch of hyper-mania.
It gets even more insania ….
Little impulse control.
Malingering manic episodes.
Post traumatic embitterment.
Rationally belligerent.
Seasonal adjustment.
Rebellion deliberate.

And transient global amnesia to boot.
When I was fifteen I wasn’t that cute.

Would you have had the…