The City High Review

Poem by Natalie B. Holmes

The class dramatically,

Simultaneously

Unsheathes their over-priced calculators,

Off to battle inequalities and algebraic expressions.

Pencils flit on paper as 3 wrong answers,

And 26 correct ones are hesitantly scribbled.

One dumbo plugs 3+10 into their over-priced calculator.

There will be 9 more

Stupid reasons for calculator use.

8 total prolonged glances at the teacher will occur,

Begging for an understanding of the

Lack of memory that has recently overcome these 9 students.

As they place the paper before the teacher, always hesitant,

Their various expressions are as follows:

11 Confidents

7 Desperates

3 Scareds

6 Okays

1 Who Put 42 For Every Blank And Honestly Doesn’t Give A Shit.

So goes the math test.