Margins of Judgment

Faded ink bites the ragged edge,

a note like a curse, a cold, sharp pledge.

“Try harder,” he scrawled—no mercy, no grace,

a bruise hidden in a student’s face.

My words, once light, now splintered and thin,

crushed beneath that biting pen’s sting.

The notebook cracked where doubt took hold,

a story halted, a dream sold.

His silence loud, a wound still fresh,

writing crushed beneath that harsh thresh.