At Christmastime in sixth grade I gave out
three dozen Berol Black Warrior pencils,

My classmates straighten and fall
quiet in their chairs, ready to go
home, their fingers interlocked

 

On cleared earth, kittens play in bowls or are
forever dozing. Milk goats wait to be milked.

Their feet must be crossed, ankle over ankle,
so no man can swim through and enter.

This new world defies sublimation.
Villagers, come to witness and welcome,