-the "no school" post script-

It wasn’t simply

not having to go to school.

It was not having to sit

through arithmetic—

not having to sit

through geography—

not having to be

confronted by Antoine Leo

for my lunch money.

It was not having

to beg Virginia Fox

to keep her mouth shut, —

not having to raise my hand

to simply be allowed to take a piss.

it was not having to humiliate myself

for the sake of social communion 

in volunteering to beat the chalk

out of their damned erasers.

It was about being free
for one sweet day under snowfall
of the requirement to call them

Miss or Mrs. or Mr.

all through their wretched day.

                  under snowfall / Fall River Public Schools