7th Period

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7th PERIOD


Safe to assume we’ve probably got it 

mostly wrong, or if not quite wrong 

then likely a right that’s misinterpreted


the question. That being said, students, 

the fact remains that at the construction site 

behind the classroom there’s a trailer-load


of 2-by-10’s used to frame the concrete 

foundation that I struggle to believe 

they’re throwing away. Perhaps 


it would be a more advantageous 

use of our day were we to spend what’s left 

of class time shouldering lumber across


campus to the bed of my truck. 

I, for one, plan on spending a few afternoons

of my remaining puzzlement to puzzle 


together a table where my children

can pick up the pondering where I left off.

It seems as good a use of time as any. It's coarse work,


but with every pass of the paper you can’t help 

but feel that you’re getting somewhere, 

like maybe, in the proverbial 8th period, 


we’ll get up from our desks and gather

round just such a table, sharing a laugh 

about how splintered it all used to be.


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