Nights at the Community College
by David M. Harris
Week five, and by now I know all of their names
and some of their issues. They all have issues.
Ms. Saeed yearns for Kurdistan
to which, for dark, unspecified family reasons,
she cannot yet return. Mr. Miller dreams
of an Air Force commission after
he passes my class, but he will not.
As he has not twice before.
Ms. Wunderlich has triumphed over
all the
English the high school offers,
and awaits the moment
when I recognize her genius.
Her hopes, too, shall perish.
They are not here for love of learning or of me.
My course is one more obstacle
to pass. They must save strength
for something more important – anatomy,
accounting, something
gainful, unlike mere English.
And I? A touch less avid every term,
weaker from the weight of their expectations,
always looking for the student who will
stand up, stand out, remind me
why I come here every week.
Until 2003, David M. Harris
had never lived more than fifty miles from New York City. Since then he has
moved to Tennessee, married, acquired a daughter and a classic MG, and gotten
serious about poetry. All these projects seem to be working out pretty well. His
work has appeared in Pirene's Fountain
(and in First
Water, the best of Pirene's Fountain
anthology), Gargoyle, The Labletter,
The Pedestal, and
other places. His first collection of poetry,
The Review Mirror, was published by
Unsolicited Press in September, 2013. On Sunday mornings, at 11 AM Central time,
he talks about poetry on WRFN-LP in Pasquo, TN (www.radiofreenashville.org).