Office Hours

Not sure if I've ever posted this one before. My educator friends can all relate, it's something we've all been asked at one time or another...


When you asked me
if we covered anything important
I didn’t pause to wonder

I got into this work
because it’s all important

But since you asked
then yes
I imagine we did

We watched a bootleg copy of King’s I have a dream speech
took turns playing Vivaldi on the Stradivarius
correctly calculated the date of the rapture
made routine repairs to the space station
hosted a gymnastics team from Sweden
brokered a peace deal in Palestine
isolated the gene for breast cancer
produced an Oscar-winning film
blew up some shit in Chemistry
solved Fermat’s Last Theorem
created a masterpiece in oil

And did some prep for the final

Missed you

Things that could have stopped me

A normal childhood
without pharmacology

Never learned Latin

My parents stayed together

Don’t own a tweed jacket

The voices inside my head encourage
but never scream

Incessant cries of the breakfast flock

Living in countries
where poets are killed

Time changes and the dark seasons

Red pen within