First Day of School

Poem by S. J. Perry

Illustration by Jane Edberg

I swallow oatmeal
and gulp coffee
mulling midnight’s
monster dream:

A murmuration
of sophomores
swarms the steel
classroom door,

perching at desks
of pipe and formica,
flapping as they settle,
chattering at flockmates.

I stand at the podium,
armpits damp, hands empty.
No roster, no lesson plan,
no respect, no escape.