What Was Beyond Me

I taught grammar in the nighttime
until punctuation spilled out of my mouth
until I ate thoughts like a koala bear
eats eucalyptus leaves.
My nocturnal doctrinal habits
lead me through empty hallways
empty exercise books
empty student brains.
The walls do not hold me
only the clock cages the hours
I discipline students
by the writing on the chalkboard
by the empty cardboard tube
that represents their diploma.
I am as nomadic as the koala bear.
I go from school to school.
The leaves I read are always the same
except for the students who hold on to me.
A new girl bends over to lift her books
offers what I can’t have.
In the nighttime not even the guard watches.
I want to touch her
but instead drive home
in a nighttime as dark as her skin.

ISBN 1-59661-006-9
39 pages $9