(a tragedy experienced in the middle of gym class)

I made nicknames for nicknames

hoping my sins

might fade away

 

the face of a new metal roof

glared at me

from the side of the baseball field

(have you ever

felt the wind pulling you free

of the earth?

I have

at the top of those bleachers)

 

I just

forgot

that I was quiet

 

other feet rattled behind me,

the dew on the field

so distant

 

I’m almost, almost

(the cars parked below are almost)

living by the sadness

of a school yard