We learned the catechism

            In the first and second grades

            That is, we memorised the words

            And could repeat them

            As a class, in unison

            Although its meaning was

            As comprehensible as

            Household chores

            The questions and the answers

            Had a cadence

            And the sound of all our voices

            All at once

            Could feel a little bit like song

            Which made it bearable

            And even, on occasion, fun

            Because the nuns

            Would cancel out

            The Palmer Method

            If we didn’t get it right

            And I was overjoyed

            The Lord was more important

            Than a course in penmanship,

            A subject I had nearly failed

            By the time we knew it all

            By rote, though not by heart,

            Which would have been impossible,

            And passed the test

            We could and did forget the lot

            For good

            Long after it was out of mind

            A sixth grade substitute

            With lipstick and a skirt above the knee

            Which made it hard to concentrate

            On what she taught

            Decided she would stop arithmetic

            And quiz us on the catechism

            One by one

            We had to improvise

            And she grew even angrier

            Finally, when Michael Palmieri said that

            God made us because He wanted to

            She grabbed him by the ear

            And marched him to the blackboard, 

            Turned him round to face her audience

            And asked again

            He wasn’t bashful but 

            He bowed his head

            Mainly, I think, to keep from cracking up,

            And this time simply said 

            “Because”

            Miss Whoever must have seen 

            The smile because

            She pulled his hair

            And yanked so hard

            A patch of scalp came out

            And Mike began to bleed

            It if had been a nun 

            It might have been okay

            But this seemed pretty weird

            That night 

            I looked the answer up –

            If anything Palmieri got the gist –

            And later even an apology

            The sacrifice was worth it

            For the story,

            Which he told a million times,

            The clown, and always made us laugh

            By ending with the question

            “Why did teacher do it?”

            And our loud two-syllable response