Crossing the Line

Annabelle

Mr. Dawe is in trouble for pushing us into the mall.

The administration rapped his knuckles for crossing

a line between teaching us about the world

and interfering in the community.

They told him it’s okay to organize booths

at school, but gathering with students at malls,

then harassing people inside those malls,

is way beyond the teacher’s code of conduct.

Mr. Dawe disagrees. He says learning doesn’t stop

at the school gates. It’s everywhere, and what better place

to learn about the warped values of consumer society

than at the mall—the modern day town square?

We all agree with him

and want to start a petition,

but since we are only seven

members, it seems hopeless.

Mr. Dawe says not to worry. He has no intention

of slowing down. Rome wasn’t built in a day

and if all the makers and shakers of history had quit

so easily, there would have been no progress.

Believe it or not, our flyers

are as powerful as stones or bullets.

They can help change the world,

one thought at a time.