Bored in School

Wrote this during a conflict studies class.

An experiment with truth and the fine grain of wood

while I fill out the crossword,

noticing sideways the heatwaves

from the heater near the window.

 

He rambles on about aquifers and floating gardens

to reclaim the lake.

His overhead outlines the takeover and partisans;

Hindu, Muslim, Siekh...

pacifist, terrorist, alchemist.

 

But I can't think of another word for 'work'

(one across, 10 letters, not occupation).

 

Then the photos come onto the screen;

they're of armed Kashmiri boys,

the lake they fight for at the source, across the glacier

near the roof of the world.

I'm into it, yeah, the adventure of being a mercenary,

tall whitey with a gun.

 

I'm stuck on the word though, for 'work' (10 letters).

I scribble on the dark wood of the desk,

dig my pen into the grooves:

"Heyduke Lives!"

Author's Note

I think the idea that "work" does not equal occupation is critical here, emblematic of the search for self that takes place in school, even if this search takes place in an absent-minded way (e.g. toying with the thought of being a mercenary while listening to a boring lecture).