Disquiet by Sarah Bigham

A place of learning, a place of support, a place of challenge, a place of growth. So brave to be here, between jobs and babies, debts and memories of those who said they were not meant for academic glory. Will it be here? Will it be one of my own? Will we escape, running out to the fields with our hands in the air and our hearts on the floor or be gunned down clutching a textbook, a cellphone, our chests? Will I be brave? Can I save them? Will we call out for our mothers?

Read the names. See the pictures. Are we next? A fresh semester, a new classroom–How to get out? Smash the window? Bolt the door? Find the stairways. Count my blessings. Hope for silence. Pray for peace. Love them all.

Should I stop giving Ds?

Sarah Bigham reads, teaches, and writes in Maryland where she lives with her kind chemist wife, their three independent cats, and a rather unwieldy herb garden.