Tuesday, January 19, 2010

In honor of the first day of a new semester... God help me...

ON MY RETURN TO SCHOOL
By Christiane Reeves


I return to school in the fall of 2004
My baby was two
She hadn’t completely weaned
and I was afraid of leaking milk and staining my shirt
One more thing to set me apart
Mark me an outsider
A young old woman
amidst the suffocating youth and simplicity
That I had given up so long (not so long) ago
for motherhood
Which doesn’t count on a resume

I sit tidily in class and take equally tidy notes
that I lend to a girl who has missed classes
To nurse post-concert hangovers
I overhear the he-said-she-said
as I walk between classes
And wonder if we can make our mortgage payment this month
If I have anything left of value to sell for some extra cash
As girls wobble by in their Jimmy Choos
texting W-T-F-? O-M-G-!

I take a detour into a pizza parlor for a beer
The smiling boy behind the counter winks
before he cards me

No comments:

Post a Comment