6:30 a.m. It’s dark on the sidewalk

where I wait for the school bus

with my green school bag

full of hope mixed into books

and pads of lined paper.

 

Will someone let me sit next to her

for the ride down Southern Parkway

to Elmwood Avenue to the high school?

Or will she drop her bag ostentatiously

on the seat next to her,

forcing me to sit next to Billy,

who still has cooties in eleventh grade?

 

So much rides on a simple trip to school.