SCHOOL

I taught myself to read when I was three,

but now there are teachers to add confusion,

sometimes a poet who spanks me

for reciting rhymes out of turn,

and at other times a gentle india,

a woman

who bakes cookies

and refuses to punish

anyone.

Don Quixote, the Bible, horror tales, and comedies—

I never grow tired of exploring the endless variety

of natural and supernatural stories.

Math, geography, and grammar

also have their orderly place in my school day,

but poetry arrives in its own way,

wild like a hurricane,

a storm of turbulent wind

and ocean waves!