Philosophy Test
First published in Here, There, and Everywhere: Redmond Association of Spokenword Anthology, Michael Dylan Welch, editor, Redmond,
Washington: Redmond Association of Spokenword, 2013, page 110. Also anthologized in Journeys: An Anthology of International Haibun (Hyderabad, India: Nivasini Publishers, 2014), edited by Angelee Deodhar.
I forget her name now, though I think it started with a C. We both sat in the
back row, she in the left corner, me in the middle. I forget the teacher’s
name, too, but remember that the subject was Western philosophy.
a robin’s song . . .
she turns in her midterm
just before me
The news ripples through the dorms after the weekend. Heading home on Friday
night, she crossed the center line. She was by herself. They said it was
instant.
dorm fireplace—
someone asks
if God really exists
At class again on Monday, the teacher repeats the news. A few gasps. For those
not on campus, it’s the first they’ve heard. The professor hands back all our
midterms, tells us that she got a C. “Sorry if this is hard to read,” he says
she wrote, “but my pen was running out of ink.”
I turn to the last page
to see my test score—
the corner seat, empty
[In memory of Debbie Yeo, died 1 February
1985.]
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