School

First Gestures by Julia Spicher Kasdorf Among the first we learn is good-bye,

One A.M. [excerpt] by David Young You'll show that toad-eater who wrote Night Thoughts

Panty Raid by Terri Ford It is 1974 and out the institutional open windows

Pledge by Elizabeth Powell Republic, your cool hands / On my schoolgirl shoulders.

Messieur Degas Teaches Art and Science at Durfy Intermediate School, Detroit 1942 by Philip Levine

Sentimental Education by Mary Ruefle Ann Galbraith / loves Barry Soyers.

Theme for English B by Langston Hughes The instructor said,

We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks We real cool. We

Mary's Lamb by Sarah Josepha Hale Mary had a little lamb,

The Junior High School Band Concert by David Wagoner When our semi-conductor

The Testing-Tree by Stanley Kunitz On my way home from school

Niggerlips by Martín Espada Niggerlips was the high school name

Being Jewish in a Small Town by Lyn Lifshin Someone writes kike on

Sick by Shel Silverstein

Evening Walk as the School Year Starts by Sydney Lea When was the last lobotomy, I wonder

Why Latin Should Still Be Taught in High School by Christopher Bursk Because one day I grew so bored

In Michael Robins’s class minus one by Bob Hicok At the desk where the boy sat, he sees the Chicago River

Apples by Grace Schulman Rain hazes a street cart's green umbrella

The Shout by Simon Armitage We went out

Art Class by James Galvin Let us begin with a simple line

The Hand by Mary Ruefle The teacher asks a question