That Pain (Flash Fiction 55)
back to school
no bells, silence
mutual head nods
parent confides
embarrassment
“our son thinks
way too much…”
teacher shrugs
such bully, precautions
unknown inner lives
exhales sift hair
away from sullen eyes
nobody listens
he’s convinced
they won’t understand
tolerance zero, friendless
without ear to hear
that anxious pain
broke more than his nose
________________________
*55 Fiction (nanofiction)
Dustus Blog 
April 29, 2010 at 7:27 pm
Nice Flash 55 Adam!!!
ouch I feel the pain (in my nose)
April 29, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Somebody get Leslie an ice pack STAT! lol
Thanks 🙂
April 29, 2010 at 7:55 pm
I absolutely loved your poem. I loved the silence and desolation in it. I loved the depth it implied.
April 29, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Thank you, Maha. I enjoyed your post 🙂
April 29, 2010 at 7:57 pm
Very much the school experience, Poor boy! Love the poem!
Gerardine
April 29, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Glad you enjoyed the piece, Gerardine.
Some kids go through emotional torment all the time. It’s awful, and it bothered me every day when I taught.
April 29, 2010 at 8:22 pm
I just simply love your poem Adam. I wish that I was young again and back in school hearing the bells ring.
April 30, 2010 at 7:13 am
Me too, Viola. Well, some of it 🙂
TY
April 29, 2010 at 8:32 pm
tight 55 adam…at that age we need ears to hear…and bullying needs to stop..
April 30, 2010 at 7:15 am
THANKS, Brian. I wouldn’t have learned about this form if not for your great work.
April 29, 2010 at 8:34 pm
Definately deeper than it appears!!
Great job.
Thank you for giving me a heads up, and thanks for playing.
I also read your previous 55…
That was excellent as well.
Please join us again next Friday, and have a Kick Ass Week-End!
April 30, 2010 at 7:18 am
I will definitely try again next Friday. Thanks for including me G-Man! Enjoying being a part of the 55 Friday 🙂
April 29, 2010 at 8:38 pm
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Adam Dustus. Adam Dustus said: That Pain (Flash Fiction 55): http://wp.me/pnd9L-1eh […]
April 29, 2010 at 9:01 pm
admirable!
April 30, 2010 at 7:18 am
so are you! 🙂
April 29, 2010 at 9:21 pm
Oh, you are good at this. This one reminds me of Arthur when he was kicked and beat in your novel. Packs a punch of a wake up call to some, I hope.
April 30, 2010 at 7:25 am
Thanks, Leslie. Glad you see the connection. I hope you’re right about that wake up call. You’re the best for reading H.S. Asylum :)))
April 30, 2010 at 12:22 am
Oh..you are such an expert at this, Adam!
I have linked you up.
WELCOME TO FLASH FRIDAY!
You are such a great addition!
Mine is here
I have three 55 to offer.
Hope you like them.
Have you a blessed weekend!
hugs
shakira
April 30, 2010 at 7:27 am
Hey shakira. Happy Friday! Thanks so much for all of your help. Can’t wait to read yours 🙂
April 30, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Yes, the link WORKS! YAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!
April 30, 2010 at 1:10 pm
thanks… I’m still not quite sure about certain types of links, shakira. Still learning, but getting there 🙂
April 30, 2010 at 3:39 am
it reminds me a lot of primary school… i really like your poems… 🙂
April 30, 2010 at 7:29 am
Thank you, ishabelle. I admire your work 🙂
April 30, 2010 at 4:08 am
wow, adam…that was a lot to say in 55 words but you’ve done it powerfully!
April 30, 2010 at 7:30 am
Thank you, sheri 🙂 Appreciate your comment.
April 30, 2010 at 4:21 am
the silent kid at the back…sees too much but he gets the last laugh if a writer!
Gone for a poem this week based on the Etheree form created about twenty years ago by an Arkansas poet named Etheree Taylor Armstrong It normally consists of ten lines of unmetered and unrhymed verse, the first line having one syllable, each succeeding line adding a syllable. I added an extra row for the word count and the punch line. See what I mean here.
April 30, 2010 at 7:32 am
Look forward to reading your poetry, John. I’m not familiar with that form—will be great to learn about it. Thanks 🙂
April 30, 2010 at 4:53 am
You’re good. I could feel that. Well done. Love/ Jo.
April 30, 2010 at 7:33 am
Thanks, Jo!
April 30, 2010 at 5:26 am
wrong link posted in my previous post. See what I mean here.
April 30, 2010 at 7:33 am
no worries. Thanks again.
April 30, 2010 at 6:38 am
Awwwwwww, school days. Excellent 55.
Mine this week is DOUBLE STANDARD As always, scroll down a bit, below my Friday’s Show n Tell.
Have a super weekend fellow 55’r!!
April 30, 2010 at 7:35 am
Thanks, Anni. You have a super weekend as well 🙂
April 30, 2010 at 7:49 am
cool 55. bullying definitely needs to be stopped. Mine is up too. Have a great spring weekend.
April 30, 2010 at 8:17 am
Kristine, I agree about bullying. Look forward to reading your 55 🙂
April 30, 2010 at 9:43 am
You are an amazing writer who gets it right…always! 🙂 Have fun today. My Mom is doing better, so I am happy. 🙂
April 30, 2010 at 9:57 am
I’m so happy to hear she is doing better 🙂
Hang in there. Thanks, Doraz
April 30, 2010 at 5:11 pm
That last line is outstanding!
April 30, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Appreciate that. Have a nice weekend!
April 30, 2010 at 5:59 pm
I have friends that work in the public schools…so this rang…very true to my ears.
April 30, 2010 at 6:59 pm
When it comes to bullying, my ears ring constantly from what some of my educator friends tell me.
Have a great weekend, Martin
April 30, 2010 at 7:07 pm
A strong visual piece. Great 55.
May 1, 2010 at 6:57 am
Thank You!
🙂
April 30, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Bullying sometimes has really tragic results. Parents, teachers, and school administrators must step up together and fight it. A few weeks ago, I wrote about a particularly horrifying case of bullying in a piece called Portrait of a Tragedy.
May 1, 2010 at 7:02 am
http://pattiken-pattiken.blogspot.com/2010/04/100-word-challenge-portrait.html
Phoebe Nora Mary Prince (1994 – 2010)
May 1, 2010 at 1:08 pm
well done Adam.A lovely poem.I still remember the physical punishment and the bullying inflicted on me in primary school.My left hand still bears the trace of a physical agression perpetrated by a female primary teacher.
now, the situatin is much better here but there’s more room for progress.
thanks Adam for sharing this great poem.
May 1, 2010 at 5:35 pm
That’s terrible. I’m sorry to hear that, wordwand. You bring up an important point though: bullying is not particular to childhood. Some people unfortunately never grow out of it.
Appreciate you sharing that classroom experience.
May 5, 2010 at 4:51 pm
The pain and awkwardness of schooldays – unfortunately we find that they really WERE the best years of our lives 🙂 Great flash fiction (or should that be Flashback unfiction?) 🙂
May 5, 2010 at 7:51 pm
“Flashback unfiction ” Hadn’t thought of it that way. Sounds much more interesting. Well, since I haven’t grown out of awkwardness, maybe my best years are still going on. lol Thanks
May 6, 2010 at 9:56 am
nothing is more painful than a friendless childhood- i have been very blessed in case of friends. never wanted more than one at a time, always got her/him.
May 6, 2010 at 10:13 am
You’re right… “nothing is more painful than a friendless childhood” So glad that wasn’t the case for you.
May 8, 2010 at 3:21 am
i am very, very lucky in case of friends. never wanted too many always had very good ones (every law has some exceptions of course).
life is really bleak without atleast “one” friend at your side.