Giving out grades



Today I gave the trees D’s
My neighbor’s dogs F’s
C- for the sunrise and its deficit of purple
C- for the English language, too
“Room for improvement”
I sentenced

All day
Grading the fucking world
Flinging F’s far and wide

Flunking food, air, birth
Prime numbers and the terrible spaces between atoms
Flunking failure and success
The high and the mighty
Flunking my windpipe and my shadow
D for the cutting of umbilical cords
D for evolution, veggies and flesh
Straight F’s for misters, sisters and twisters

Grading all afternoon
And into the night
Saving my A’s for a rainy day
                                                -- New York, August 1, 2011

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