As a child,
in elementary school,
I loved to clean
the erasers.

It was a task
I could handle

and for a few
precious moments

it granted me
freedom

from any other
expectations

from any other

I loved to
clean the erasers

methodically

rhythmically

measured by
my heartbeat

In doing so
it was as though

seeing the chalk
cloud of mistakes

gave me back
a little
of my stolen
self confidence

There was great
satisfaction

in seeing
all of those

important thoughts,

handed down to us

by the
teacher
and the
teacher's
teachers,

reduced to
white puffs
of dust

carried away
on the wind

I think back now
and can see
the minute
fossil fragments
settled upon the grass

resembling fertilizer

which I
always knew
they always were

manure, to help us grow

that we may
create and spread
more manure

***