The F-plus student is chasing me down the never-ending school hall to ask what can be done as I try to hop into a locked locker but can’t recall the combination so slip into an open class to see that it’s a final and I’m naked and haven’t prepared and I fail and I wrap a world map around my waist and chase the teacher down the never-ending hall to ask what can be done as he tries to hop into a locked locker but he can’t remember the combination so slips into an open room to see me somehow teaching a class I haven’t prepared for and I’m naked and we’re all naked and the world maps are on fire and the room is smoking and we’re choking and asking what can be done and grasping at locked doors but we’re failing and failing and failing.

Aaron Sandberg resides in Illinois where he teaches. His recent poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Asimov’s Science Fiction, English Journal, Yes Poetry, One Sentence Poems, and Vita Brevis Press, among others. You might find him on Instagram @aarondsandberg.

Photo by Pierre BEST

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