There’s a man we see twice a week.
He lectures to a mostly silent room,
where the curious or mischievous speak,
from the leaves’ falling to the flowers’ bloom.
Twice a week we share a room with a man,
and he talks about things he has already said,
and each new audience follows as best we can,
hoping to find a way out of this dread.
We see this man, twice a week, because we must,
but he has chosen this a hundred times before,
for his swipes bring up chalk dust,
and he doesn’t cough anymore.
Recommendation: The Inside-Out Man by Fred Strydom. My 10th grade English teacher lent this to me; I always think ‘fantastic read, wild recommendation’.