Mrs. Garza!
he whisper-yells
hand raised,
tests await commands to start
You got a baby trash can?
Trash can? I moved it
to the front
hand sanitizer
box of tissues
bathroom sign-out sheet
He mumbles, looks around
making sure no one hears
or at least he tries
I walk to his desk
You got a baby trash can?
a little tiny trash can?
You see, I got sunflower seeds
eat em when I'm bored
I don't wanna
put em all over the table,
you know...
Yeah, I know,
spit
I get it
I eat them on long road trips
so I don't fall asleep
while I'm driving
Testing binder in hand
I walk to my office
looking over my shoulder
letting everyone know
I'm sort of watching
Yank, yank, yank, yank
Use paper towels
that's all I've got
take a bathroom break
if you need more
Psst...
Mrs. Garza
thank you
He sets his desk
as if breaking bread
computer plugged in-
he forgot to charge it
a bag of sunflower seeds
slouches agains the testing divider
paper towels stacked and ready
pencil
scratch paper
testing ticket
Today you'll be taking...
Crack!
He snaps the first seed
for a break is valuable
but when you stop
what do you do?
does the mind wander too much?
why is it hard to refocus?
start again,
build momentum
why stop?
is it to observe?
try something new?
look for something, or
let something find you?
rather than restarting,
it's time to
continue
this thing that
sustains and
feeds me,
consider words
that want to be said,
that need saying
was the stopping meant
for listening?
how do you
bring everything together?
Nerds Beget Nerds 