RESOURCES
weekends are so much better than weeks
because they start with double aikido
on Saturday morning
then soccer in the park
and Sunday is a family hike
then chores and homework
but weekdays
follow weekends
and Sunday nights
I have to center myself
and prepare to return
to the Dragon’s Mouth
it’s not actually called
Dragon’s Mouth anymore
that name goes way back
to when the school was connected
to Dragon’s Mouth temple
now the school’s called
Ridge Way Elementary or
Ridgeline Pass Elementary
or however you want to
translate the Japanese
but Dragon’s Mouth
seems a better fit
to me
this Monday at school
I manage to hold my center
all day long
but by the time Mom and Cora pick me up
I feel like I’ve been at the dojo for six hours
alert
ready every second
my whole body trembling
from concentration
and exertion
I sleep all the way to Yokohama
in English group
the olders and youngers both
are still doing economics
supply and demand
goods and services
then we olders have to look at photos
and decide which are the
human
natural
or capital
resources
and teach the youngers
I’m so tired of this unit
and can’t wait to start the next
on marine ecosystems
and intertidal life
since Mom promises to take us
down the coast of Miura
to a place where the tide pools
are full of everything—
anemones
crabs
sea slugs that squirt purple
urchins and abalone
and sometimes
an octopus
but Trina’s mom announces
that we’re extending this unit
another couple weeks
for a special project
Trina and Ami seem happy
since they think they want to start
their own business
in fashion or shoes
but Nenita, Will, and I groan
and use our capital resource—our brains—
to petition the parents to also extend
the marine unit by two weeks
and we win
hah!