Conversations
a day of grieving, 1/22/94
V
i am a teacher
i teach high school in the suburbs
it’s not like the city
there aren’t gangs and drugs
but it’s so stressful
i also try to counsel my students
one girl
pregnant by her boyfriend
got an abortion
that night
he raped her
that was his present to her
after she aborted his baby
what do i say to her
and what do i say
every day
when i see
the rapist
he’s a student
in my seventh hour class
this week alone
i did two suicide interventions
i counseled two teenagers
how am i supposed
to go to sleep at night
i sit in bed
awake
and worry