Robert’s black hi-top
fade has been dyed blue
this week, and after
I teach the prompt
to prepare these
third and fourth graders
to write poems
on constellations
they’ve created
by connecting the dots
of an accurate
picture of the night sky
and dismiss the kids
to return
to their tables
to write,
I find him, the last student
to leave the carpet,
lying on the floor,
right cheek pressed down,
his left eye staring
straight ahead
as if the answers
to the galaxy
lie in the particles
of dust he can see
when the light
from the closest star
shimmers in
between the cracks
in the walls
of the classroom.
Click here to read Jeanine Walker on the origin of the poem.
Image: by struvictory, licensed under CC 2.0.
A recipient of fellowships from Artist Trust and Jack Straw Cultural Center, Jeanine Walker has published poems in Chattahoochee Review, Prairie Schooner, New Ohio Review, and Third Coast, and her debut poetry collection, The Two of Them Might Outlast Me, is forthcoming from Groundhog Poetry Press in fall 2021. She holds a Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Houston and teaches poetry in public schools through Seattle Arts & Lectures’ Writers in the Schools program and at Hugo House. Currently in residence at Toji Cultural Center in Wonju, South Korea, Jeanine also writes and produces films with her partner, Steve Mauer.
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