Teacher’s Diet

Do you know what your elementary school

teacher's diet was? 

A question few people

ask; a question thought of as an

afterthought, many years later, sitting in the

room of your one-bedroom apartment after

your mom just sent a picture of a handprint

made to look like a turkey. For breakfast,

they probably had off-brand cereal–made

with only the finest saw dust mixed with

malt vinegar and corn, the bitterness oozes

out of their sweat later while writing equations

on the chalk board. 

For lunch, they

probably had air à la king, maybe a

cigarette for dessert–hands shake as they

hold it up to their lips, a thousand-yard stare–

this was war, this was the middle of the

shit, this was teaching future presidents,

accountants, and serial killers how to spell

“cat.” 

For dinner, they went home, poured

a glass of whiskey, lit it on fire, warmed

their hands with it–a soft blue flame danced

around the glass like kids playing with the

parachute in the gym, and drank it in one

gulp.