School Poems

Old women

                   scrape weeds
from the cracks
                   so the pavement
can go on
                   another year.


. . .


Black-haired girls
took pictures under
the magnolia
spring bloomed,
petals already
on the ground,
the color of parchment
or photos abused
by time.


. . .


In summer
their hair
grows glossy
as they
sleep.


. . .


In fall
                        the school girls
will throw
                        stones
to evict
                        persimmons
from their
                        limbs.


. . .


In the school garden,
                        the arbor
has been
                        dismembered
before the leaves
                        could turn
brown.


. . .