THE HAND: A School Poem by Mary Ruefle

It’s that “back to school” time of year. I was an elementary teacher for more than three decades and a school librarian for three years. I retired in 2004. Still, these August days bring back memories of the times I spent preparing my classroom—or my library—for the beginning days of a brand new school year and the return of students.

Today, at Wild Rose Reader, I posted some original “things to do” poems about school. Here at Blue Rose Girls, I have another poem about school that was written by Mary Ruefle.

THE HAND

The teacher asks a question.
You know the answer, you suspect
you are the only one in the classroom
who knows the answer, because the person
in question is yourself, and on that
you are the greatest living authority,
but you don’t raise your hand.
You raise the top of your desk
and take out an apple.
You look out the window.

You can read the rest of the poem here.

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The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Dori Reads.