Dear Provost

I don’t even know what to say.

You’ve stolen my voice.

I can only sit here, fuming in silence.

Pin me to the wall. Puncture my wings.

And hold me there.

Rip the wings off – Rip the floor out from under me.

Tell me to crawl and struggle my way out.

Has a Ph.D. in Psychology?

Has taught the subject for years,

Yet doesn’t understand mental illness.

Patronizes me, undercuts my intellect,

Sneers down while trying to be cute?

Smile that bright, terrible smile as you interrogate me.

And now try to keep me out of school

As if I have some other place to go.

Smack me down.

Tack. Press the pin.

Finality.