A Bomb Threat

The little head dangled from the keychain
attached to his back pack; his father had helped
him sew the princess' eyes shut.

"Do you know Jesus?" the principal had asked
with a sheriff standing in the corner.
"Keep your voodoo at home."

He stumbled back to geometry,
closed the Tolkein paperback he had been hiding,
and buried his head in the crook of his arm
where no one could see him cry.