an unsharpened no.2 pencil--with a
half-chewed pink head, nary scalp itch.
pencils up...five minutes in, fifteen questions
of cardinal truth.
examination--subject: nondescript, grade:
nondescript, ambiguity: satisfactory.
pupil slowly drags his chair backward--after
holding both hands up for permission.
the wooden board soring his ***, remains studded
underneath, with undetected gum-chewing.
he walks to the front of the classroom, & places his
no.2 pencil in a manual pencil sharpener.
working it like a meat grinder, in this superimposition
of silence.
his teacher then excuses herself from a potpourri of
free ranging doodoo.
in a hail of reprimands--her pupil is banished back
to his test sheet.
where the excess of cleaning agents applied by the
school's custodian, probe his sense of smell made
vulnerable.
enter the metallic smell of blood.
as he undergoes a fountainous nosebleed--grabbing
the blank test sheet, to thwart the gush.
on sight...his teacher isn't sure whether to send him
to the principle, or the nurse.
