assigned by number
wait to see if eighteen grand
is worth half a day

by wasting our day
you've taken away "the why"
don't sugar coat it

colored printing waste
for personality test
glorification

Castle Pines castle
stealing eighteen grand daily
with this theft of time

did you ever think
that asking for and sharing
honesty might work?

when school districts spend
days and dollars on trainings
it becomes so clear:

they don't have a plan
for societal burdens
schools are forced to bear

my brain prefers work
not "feeling scratchy" all day
brain exercise that

at two hours in
snarky haikus start waning
to total shutdown

let me think of kids
who need me to cheer for them
while adulthood waits

no words can capture
how horrifying this is
for someone like me

but there's still this view
as i walk into my school
to start each bright day: