Wait is like being stuck
on the ceiling
(One of my little students wrote
“Bored is like a piece of chewing gum
stuck on the ceiling”)
Wait is an old horse who
can’t get up the hill
Wait is porridge, too thick,
the spoon in a bind
Wait is my body in the traffic jam
can’t sing, can’t dance
working overtime sitting still
Wait is the water that won’t boil
Curly kale sitting on top like worried mothers
Wait is the news you don’t have yet
but somehow know
crumpled paper in your hand
knitted brow
Wait is the poem that is trying to get out
the little student bent over her pencil
like a mantis about to leap
but still praying
