Structure my colleague tells me as he & I doorway-huddle

between our 2 classrooms is what matters most

today This minute I am 100 shades & lengths of pencils 

sinking through

eroding erasers & dusty dulled sharpeners

The email 2 hours ago said FWD: FYI:

last Friday 1 of our students threatened to rape another

I teach both though not together & I’m shredding

into lined strips of notebook paper

wishing I could comfort the girl say it’s not her fault 

but also I was that girl am still that girl aren’t we all?

& clumsily capping the lids on all these markers

when the boy walks in We exchange a curious glance

He’s still just a boy He’s still my student I’ve laughed 

with him & listened to his stories & reprimanded

his bad behavior—which is not to say I expected this I pull the tables apart 

assign seats to the children streaming in They whine 

I point to the board: 1) Describe an emotion without naming the emotion  

2) Explain what tattoo you or a character would get

3) Explore a body of water 12 to 14 lines on

oceans lakes ponds puddles rivers

creeks estuaries— What are estuaries? 

Where the tide meets the stream Where the river joins the sea

Where the fresh & marine reconcile   & reinvent themselves & become brackish water