Schooled

by Jennifer Sutherland, Susan Burch, and Michael Dylan Welch

First published in Hedgerow #130, April 2020, page 9. Written 16 October 2015 at the Haiku North America conference in Schenectady, New York.

first day of school—

the cover stretched

across the piano Jennifer

the long haul

to the principal’s office Susan

a touch of frost

at the classroom window . . .

the teacher’s drone Michael

the star by her name

erased from the whiteboard Jennifer

pop quiz—

the tick tick tick

of the clock Susan

sun through the fog

recess bell Michael