in grade school november 11 was
armistice day my favorite teacher
was miss herman we learned about
indians in third grade from unbiased
texts but never met an indian – “wash”
she pronounced “warsh” an ignorance
I forgave (in college learned it’s a
regionalism) she fielded ron grove’s
jeering our belief in santa by saying with
a slight smile her eyes focused out the
window “I’ve never met him but I do
know there is a christmas spirit” – even
my sister recalls a class disrupter would
have a paper towel loosely strung across
the mouth ear to ear we neither endured
that disgrace – she explained on armistice
day about the war to end all wars–at exactly
11 o clock we sat at our desks hands folded
in silence watched the huge clock listened
to it tick as its hands crept forward three
minutes or was it five my thoughts were
how very slow time moves when you gaze
at the clock – today the holiday is renamed
as war after war most undeclared go on
and on while the extinction clock’s minute
hand moves closer ever closer to twelve
2019 Jacqueline Jackson
This article appears in Fashion comes to Springfield.
