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Miss Rotinski

Updated: Nov 27

By John Yohe

all of us

in fifth grade

boys + girls

loved Miss Rotinski

the art teacher

who came to our class

every friday

for an hour

 

tall

old

maybe thirty

jeans or slacks

but always a silk

longsleeved shirt

almost seethru

shoulderlength brown hair

low voice

keeping us under control

focused

 

one day

she showed us perspective

that our eyes

went to the horizon

anything taller than us

should be drawn on our paper

above the horizon line

which seemed a miracle

since I couldnt draw

so I drew wild monsters

weird pine trees and cacti

experimenting with that line

knowing I would impress her

show her how creative I was

show her I understood her

so she would

like me

 

towards the end of class

I walked up front

handed my drawing to her

she looked at it + frowned

—oh no

what have you done?

what is this?

 

I didnt understand

I had done what she wanted

enjoyed the process

was proud of my creativity

 

I took my drawing back

sat at my desk

have no more memories

of her

after that





 

Born in Puerto Rico, John Yohe has worked as a wildland firefighter, wilderness ranger and fire lookout. Best of the Net nominee x2. Notable Essay List for Best American Essays 2021, 2022 and 2023. @thejohnyohe www.johnyohe.weebly.com.



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