M A Schaffner
Recess
A penance inflicted by the sun:
heat too harsh to lack intention
gels my shirt to an itching back,
turns my collar to a noose.
And yet I must have played on days like this,
running in the scorching light,
wiping my burning eyes on short sleeves,
licking my dirty palms like salt tablets.
Once I’d charge the ambiguous screams of kids
recoiling from the blows of Prison Dodge,
knees scraped raw from kickball on asphalt courts.
I know I’ll never work that hard again.
Page(s) 46
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