N is for nuns
who nap at noon
every day,
O is for our father
who art in heaven,
a prayer.
P is for playground
where we go
when sisters sleep
and Q is
for queen,
that’s Queen of heaven,
the Mother.
R is for restless
we are restless
in the heat,
the nuns lock the school ground
gates when they sleep.
S is for soccer,
which the boys play
for a while—
till they tire
that’s for T
and join the girls
under a tree.
U is for our uniforms
that turn yellow
in the dust
and V
for Victoria,
who is pretty
but is wild—
“Stop the game!” Victoria yells
“Pervert on the loose.”
No one fact-checks
dolls cast off
the ball rolls quietly away
as we race
to grip the bars
of the fence and watch
the cars and hurried adults
pass by
hoping he will come.
is from Toronto. She grew up in Szczecin and Madrid.