This one girl got mono
& couldn’t go on the trip, we
didn’t have money to chip in so I
was gonna ride the bench
in study hall
while everybody else
held hands on the back of the bus, but
Ms. Crabtree said that since
the sick kid’s folks had
already paid I could go.
Mom squinted and palmed me
a fortune in quarters and singles,
tip money and pocket change, and
I ate so much pizza at the buffet they
had to pull the bus over, my
cheeks sunburn hot, Ms. Crabtree
held my pony tail as I
puked up six dollars of pepperoni.
Mighty nice poem. No fuss, complete story in a minimum of words, just the event and no editorializing, so we can all remember similar moments and draw our own conclusions.