cost

some people are just happy to have the time off of work.
public swimming pools have just opened,
early this year (what with the warming planet and all).
they'll put things off till the end of the week.
i guess i would have too, given the choice.
not that i'm complaining.

i'm one of the readers.
my teaching experience got me here.
it's not like i love grading papers,
though i'm sure i learn something
with every new batch i get.
this is very different.

by 'here' i mean this church.
this one's methodist.
it's the biggest one in our town.
it wasn't my choice to do this in a church.
someone thought this would be appropriate
i guess it is, for most of us here.

we have gathered here
fifty-three of us
high school teachers mostly
some of us from the university
others from the community
to read the essays.

i should explain

every citizen has been 'asked'
(drafted)
to submit by the week's end
their proposal for peace.
what should the country do
to end all of this suffering?

by 'sufferring' i mean here.
the united states of america.
though my own goal is broader.
i don't believe we can succeed
with such a narrowminded goal.
though i suppose most of us here do.

i've read seven so far.
five of them involved continued attacks,
three of which involved heavy profanity
none of them has been very clear
and i'm tempted to ask the english teachers here
if they've all moved over to multiple choice testing.

next wednesday one of us will go to the state capital
and present a summary of our town's ideas.
quantified and sliced up into pie charts
best idea from each slice gets three minutes on the table.
seven essays so far and no ideas i'd want to present.
they'll show up later in the week, i'm sure