Adjusted Curriculum, 15 February 2018
by Tim Singleton
Math Class: today we learn to count… bodies.
In Physics, we’ll discuss if heated metal sings
as it tears through air, or is the first sound it makes
that scream into flesh, the blood sizzle?
The skeleton in the back of Biology
is mute with horror:
…what those with meat on their bones do.
The Guidance Office wants the smoke to clear
before you start on college applications.
In Home Economics, we’ll find the best way
to get the stain of a friend’s laughter
out of the air.
All that is left to do in Gym
is pick up and re-rack the balls,
maybe close a few lockers,
swab the floor.
The ink of History is blood;
the next chapter of the textbook
is always empty, waiting to be written.
Everyone have a pen?
In Art class, be quick when you draw from memory,
get the idea on paper before the person you knew
fades away, disappears.
How many eulogies must we turn in
to receive full credit for this English assignment?
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“Adjusted Curriculum” was published in the Summer 2018 issue of Dragonfly, the annual arts magazine produced by Hopeworks of Howard County, Maryland.
Words and Wonder 