The Holiday That Never Was To Be
The Holiday That Never Was To Be
Mrs. Tolbert’s 4TH grade class was full of ten-year olds
All eyes were torn between the scenes of summer outside the window
And the second hand on the clock
The assignment was written in chalk:
Create a holiday that you will participate in over summer vacation!
All of her students had their proposals set
On the upper left-hand side of their desks
They were waiting for
Thomas
Who was trying his best to finish
So that everyone could share their new holidays
On this last day, during this last hour
Of class
Finally
Thomas set his stack of odd drawings down
There were murmurs of
Finally!
Mrs. Tolbert called on the first student to read about her holiday
It was called,
Find Lost Pets:
“On my holiday I will go around my neighborhood
And look for signs. I will spend the whole day looking
For that lost pet and when I find it I’ll call the owner and
Collect the reward.”
She showed her drawing of herself
Handing over a puppy to another little
Girl of the same age
Very good!
Exclaimed Mrs. Tolbert.
The next holiday was called:
Tackle Football
The boy stood on his chair and raised his picture high
It was a picture of a boy his age
Tackling another boy with a football in his arms
“On my holiday I’ll gather up all my friends and
We will play tackle football without any of the dumb
School rules. Two-hand touch is for sissies!”
There were praises from the other boys in the room.
Just be careful, Chad!
Exclaimed Mrs. Tolbert.
Very good!
Thomas gave his presentation last
He stood up and showed his first picture
His holiday was called
Changing of the Garb
Interesting title!
Exclaimed Mrs. Tolbert
The first picture was of a poor family
Wearing poor clothes
The second picture was of a rich family
Wearing rich clothes
“On my holiday the poor family would trade
Their poor clothes with the rich and the rich would wear the
Poor people’s clothes all day long.”
There were murmurs again
Chad chided:
“What about the middle class?”
Thomas held up his final picture
The middle class people were all naked
There were plenty of boobies and penises
For the students to laugh over
“The middle class would wear no clothes
Because they don’t deserve any.
They let the poor people starve and
Allow the rich people to get fat.”
Mrs. Tolbert marched on over to Thomas
And yanked the offending picture from his hands
This is inappropriate material for class!
Exclaimed Mrs. Tolbert.
I want to speak with you
OUTSIDE
NOW!
The ten-year olds were too scared to taunt Thomas
Mrs. Tolbert was raging
Thomas made his way to the door
He had his shirt off before his teacher noticed
She was writing angry words across the chest
Of a naked woman who was too detailed for
Her liking
She would have Thomas’s parents know
Their child needed guidance
And discipline
When Mrs. Tolbert looked up
She knew something was wrong
Her class was silent
A pair of shoes was left discarded by the door
A pair of blue jeans was stuck in the jam
And was it her imagination
Or was Chad wearing Nathan’s clothes?
The football jock looked ragged and poor
Nathan looked well-to-do
Nathan even smiled
What shocked her most
Were the clothes which were
Stacked neatly on the upper left-hand corner
Of her students’
Desks
By Craig Boehman, from Wolf Gin Sonnets, 2009
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