Percy Fleming sat on the couch <br />in the Teacher’s Center <br />eyes red <br />tears still streaming down his cheeks. <br />Before I could ask what happened <br />he said, “Sam Budd fainted in class <br />by the time security got there <br />wallet gone <br />shoes gone <br />hairpiece gone <br />Sam gone.” <br />“They took his hairpiece, ” I said <br />not believing a kid would do such a thing. <br />“Dead, Bernstein <br />forget the wig.” <br />I mumbled, <br />“Not gonna be the real Sam <br />in the coffin.” <br />“I told the man stay home rest <br />no <br />even though <br />he said everything seemed <br />dark in his head <br />and two months ago he fainted <br />in Prospect Park <br />bums grabbed his wallet there also <br />so Sam had no ID <br />when he was taken to hospital <br />and he didn’t wake up for two days. <br />Of course then he told the police <br />his name and they called his wife <br />who ran there at once <br />but the doctors said to her: <br />one day he’d faint <br />and never wake up. <br />After that she couldn’t eat <br />even white bread <br />too much for her <br />yet the man <br />showed up to class each day <br />to instruct these youngsters <br />in the intricate details <br />of Rome’s collapse <br />cause he wanted <br />to insure their success <br />on the Final Exam.<br /><br />Charles Chaim Wax<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-tale-worthy-of-phrynichus/
