Ms. Rinaldi left the courtroom
after the prosecutor showed pictures
of Jeremy Mathis’s face after the fight
In school, she said I had talent, a gift
She said my lines were soft
my subjects were tender
She said I had a lot of beauty
inside me waiting to bloom
My art teacher of all people should know
I could never make a painting
with the colors of mangled flesh
of broken bone, of bruised skin
out of someone’s face