Quick Write 1968
By Sandra Anfang
When I saw the horseshoe ring of desks
in the honors English class
I thought it might be a door
to an alternate universe.
The aging teacher stood before us
silk shirt waist bulging at its darts
hemispheres of perspiration blooming like peonies
beneath her arms, raised for emphasis
cheeks slack but still rosy.
The long white hair
pulled into a twist clasped by silver bells
reminded me of Frost.
Stopping by Walden Pond on a foggy morning
she had a vision;
as her words tumbled out
our sixteen-year-old bodies
stunned into stillness
clung to every one.
She wanted to know what we thought
of Cather, Lawrence, Poe.
It was the first time anyone had asked
had dared to cross the border of our ennui
and we were ready to testify
to spring's unfolding.
As our awareness grew so did the lottery numbers
an existential bingo game designed by generals
with their Risk game strategies.
One by one
the senior boys received the summons
moved to the front of the line
to be fattened
for the war machine.
I thanked the world for making me female
in spite of coat hanger abortions
airbrushed rapes
contraband Marlboros
ground under cut-and-run heels
on the wrong side of the tracks
while air raid drills
screamed us into adulthood.
She wanted us to write about it--
all of it-- to hold back nothing
to tell it like it was
to tell it as if our lives depended on it.
Sandra Anfang is a poet, teacher, and visual artist. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals including Poetalk, San Francisco Peace and Hope, West Trestle Review, Tower Journal, Unbroken, Rattle, and Spillway. Her chapbook, Looking Glass Heart, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2016. She is working on several new collections and is excited about sharing her work at the Petaluma Poetry Walk this September. Sandra is a California Poet/Teacher in the Schools and hosts the Rivertown Poets [https://www.facebook.com/RivertownPoetsAMuseingMondays/?ref=br_rs]in Petaluma, California. See also sandraanfang.com
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