The pencil snapped with a crack—

The pencil snapped with a crack—

a clean line cutting through quiet,

the drawing folded into silence,

like a breath that got stuck.

The kid’s shoulders folded in,

something sharp pulled tight,

a thread snapped between us

and spilled out on the cold classroom floor.

Torn paper edges scattered like regrets,

a fragile thing destroyed without thought,

a moment lost to a teacher’s careless hand,

art crushed beneath authority’s weight.