After Summer Holidays

first day back at school

barefoot, with summer-worn knees

Tommy Bird

running in the schoolyard

halted; seized

hands on

by Miss Wilkinson

the nôtowêsiw

who smells like cheese

and old coats

she smiles at him like a kind

wolf, and twists him

to face the camera

a hungry glint in her

eye, teeth

breathlessly bared

Tommy’s slender shoulders

pinched

in her long fingers

the sun in Tommy’s eyes