[Here's the first of L.E. Leone's poems; all of us here at Robert Frost's Banjo are excited by L.E. becoming a contributor. By the way, please note that L.E.'s most recent book of fiction, Big Bend, is available from Sparkle Street Books. Enjoy!]
Wonder what it’s like
To sit in your class, watch
Your lips move, muscles
Stretch as you turn to the black
Board, squeak of the chalk
Vibrating me – I’m sensitive –
Through the plastic seat.
To call you Teacher, to stand
Before you instead of this
Sitting, across the coffee shop
Watching you grade papers.
Lips stay still, your eyes
Move and I have to settle
For the fantasy of me, my body
Lying naked on your table like
An essay. Persuasive!! Strange!!!
Your hand, the pen, I strain
For flicks and squiggles beneath
The too-loud accordion music.
Ah, I’m not yet sensitive
To your red X’s and edits and, yes
I think you would use exclamation
Marks. Well done! Giving up, I open
My eyes and you are stepping into
The bathroom. Time to go! Have to be
Back at the bank, I’m a teller.
Let me tell you: I do!
I do have the nerve
To slip this bagel-stained
Napkin, my poem
Into your stack of
Student papers, walking out.
Go ahead. Grade me.
L.E. Leone
© 2010