2020.8 Fool’s Gold

From the @napowrimo Day 4 prompt encouraging us to take a Tweet from @MagicRealismBot’s output. I chose: “A high school teacher in Cape Town is forgetting about Donald Trump.”

She feels the gaps at first,
The salt-lick thirst at the back
Of her mind.
Some jokes are less risible,
Symbolism less rich
(Some of it – less easy, anyway).

She is aware of her lack of awareness,
The essential nature of
Basic linguistic shortcuts
Sundered,
Plundered from me
(She sometimes thinks).

In a month or so,
The only thing she notices
Is that she’s less encumbered,
Somehow more willing to smile,
Mildly hopeful
(Where the grownups despair).

It’s a thundery afternoon, and one of the endlessly
Restless kids
Wigs himself with a yellow duster
Summons up a kind of
Honking shout from a pouting sneer
(Sheer mirth bubbles through her).

Without context,
There is no pretext
Present for punishment.
Unburdened, she laughs,
Daft in half-light with the surprised
(delighted) children.

Picture of #45 from Daily Kos. Picture of laughing children from Children’s Ministry.
Fancy edit done by me (I’m so darned proud!)