BROOMS
just like Monday
Tuesday morning
at school goes okay
so long as I’m always
on alert
but when lunch recess ends
I discover
someone has taken
my indoor shoes
it’s not the first time
and I know the places
I can look:
toilets
tops of high cabinets
first graders’ cubbies
but it’s cleaning time
and I’m late
so I head
to the music room
in my socks
and late means
the brooms and mop
are already taken
and I’m stuck again
with the dustpan
in the music room
desks have been pushed aside
Naho and Yuki are sweeping
Mika’s riding a mop
and Shunta and Gō
have unscrewed and removed
both of the wide broom heads
and they’re running around
waving the long handles
like samurai swords
cleaning in socks? Shunta says
in fake surprise
no indoor shoes? Gō says
slicing the air above my head
Shunta points to a dust pile
and commands me to
sweep it
into my dustpan
to use a dustpan
you have to squat down
and as soon
as you start to sweep
into the pan
you lose your center
and you can be whacked
on the butt
with a broom
or mopped
on the head
the question is
whether to duck
and roll out of the way
or not
Naho taunts
missed a spot she says
I sweep
here
she points
and here
faster and faster
I sweep up dust pile
after dust pile
then Yuki
starts pointing at random
do it
she says
I don’t
and suddenly
a broom handle
cracks on my head
just above my ear
I drop the brush and dustpan
put one hand to my head
and keep my other hand
fisted
ready
for the rest of cleaning
I just sit on a desk
in the corner
my back to the wall
facing them all
it’s not bleeding much
but I smear it over my palm
so they can see
and finally
they leave me alone
Mom yells at me
for my filthy socks
and makes me scrub them
and hang them out myself
I don’t tell her
about my missing indoor shoes
finally found with the guest slippers
at the front school entrance
I don’t tell her about the lump
on the side of my head that I dab
with a soapy washcloth before rinsing
and climbing into the tub
I don’t tell her that the floor
in our school is filthy
because brooms are not so much used
for sweeping
I don’t tell her
because I don’t want her
interfering at school
making things in the Dragon’s Mouth
even worse