one to pick our partners

her mouth a dark line on her

face the corners curl up just a little

sometimes the boys pick the girls

sometimes

the girls pick the boys

I always hold my breath as each boy

stands up walks around and looks at

the girls like they are shopping

my brain always in a partial dark sleep

like a fish

the boys always laugh and

snicker when

they pass me

Miss Beeoh always stands with her arms

crossed

the line on

her mouth and its

endless curling

sometimes if a boy is absent

I am usually

the last one left sitting on

the side wearing a

cream-colored gym suit with

three green stripes down the sides of

each pant leg

tight from my

thunder thighs

short and faded from too many

washings

my face always

heavy with shame

some stared and laughed

others looked away

as if I were contagious

once during dance

I got to pick first

I picked the

Chaldean boy named Henry who was

always the last boy

everyone laughed

Marci said of all people you

pick Henry?

the whole time Henry didn’t look

at me his hands felt soft and moist

I wanted to tell him that I’m sorry

and that I picked him because

we’re about the same size

and I thought he wouldn’t

laugh at me

but his face was red like the center

of a bull’s-eye

he didn’t

thank me

Searching

What are you looking at

Annie asks

nothing

I say as I realize

I’ve been resting

for too long

thinking for too long

I get back to digging

in the bushes

I keep digging

until my hand brushes against

something soft

something that

feels like

hair

a soft raspy sound

comes out of my

mouth

Maybe

Annie runs over just as I’m

pulling the branches apart

down at the bottom

a small clump of

yellow twigs and grass

in the middle are a bunch of

almond-shaped gray ears

tiny dark eyes that look like

watermelon seeds

the heads and bodies all tangled

together curled in

strange positions that look

uncomfortable

BUNNIES

Annie and I scream

the little brown gray bunnies twitch

at our yelp

we know better than to touch

them but want to grab

each one and squeeze as hard

as we can

LOOK

I point to a part of their nest that

has some long

black strands

we both guess what

that means

Happy

We get back to the bushes

pull them apart

dig

dig

dig

we must be close

eventually we take a break to

eat our snacks

do you ever wish you lived somewhere else

I ask Annie

all the time she says

I wanna go to California someday

what’s there I ask

beaches trees as big as skyscrapers

different stuff different people

do you ever wish you

were someone else I ask

all the time

she says

then she is silent

she doesn’t ask me

because we both

know my answer too

now I’ve spoiled