back to me

if I hit too low the ball comes

back too low

but I can bring it back up with

my racket

if I hit too high the ball bounces

too high back

but I can bring the ball back

down with my racket

my body powerful

swinging feels like

a big wave

powerful and fluid

sometimes I pretend

the bald balls are

Josh and Steve and hit

them as hard as I can

but they keep

coming

back

sometimes I hit back and forth

with the wall until it’s so late

the ball

turns

into

night

Jogging

Today while jogging during

PE class

I hear wig and

I want to get closer

but I don’t want to get closer

Josh and Steve say it again

maybe they called me a pig maybe I

should stay

away from them

then I hear it again

wah wah wah wig wah wah wah

so I speed up and linger behind

them just far enough away

where did you put it

Josh says

in the back of the fence

wah wah wah over there

Steve points ahead to the back corner

of the field

Josh turns around

his eyes like two large clocks

what are YOU staring at

they speed up and

run away laughing

I run through

clouds of dust from their shoes

my ears are

dusty

my ears stand tall

I stand

a little taller

A Good Plan

I mark the corner of the field with

my eyes and memorize

the bushes where I think Steve’s

finger was pointing

but I can’t get over

there without our PE teacher Miss Beeoh

seeing me

I decide to go

later during a bathroom break right

before Mr. Heart begins to

scream at us

I’m good at knowing when

that is

when his mood begins to

detach from his body

and the mood

travels across the room and the

ceiling begins its lowering

I don’t have to ask to

go because I’m mostly

a good kid

the good ones

can go on their own

I’ll go later to that spot near the fence

that’s a good plan

that’s the first plan I’ve ever had

the first

best plan

I feel strong

I now have ideas

that can

fly

Bathroom Break

As I guessed

Mr. Heart is

ready to blow up

this time it’s because

we all failed a test

he’s passing the tests back and

muttering louder and louder

I’m disappointed in all of you

I jump up and grab the

bathroom pass and start walking

kind of jogging

down the hall

by the time I get to the end I can

hear him screaming

I look around and

push open the door

the chilly wind rises around

me as if I’m near a plane’s

propellers

the birds swerve above and

come into

a circle around me they

follow me as I race to the

edge of the yard my

heart pricks my

chest with every beat

as I run faster it begins to