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Monday, June 14, 2010

T-CELLS

by Scott Simpson


A single cell divided
and then again until the math
was all a matter of history

But even math itself was insincere
as it counted off millennia
in ways that never should have

Added up to credit
default swaps and hedge funds
rerouting vessels

Into clumps and spaces
for the multi-celled among us--
formulas that sucked

Slyly from organs,
bloating tumorous
pockets

A body divided
cannot stand, cannot sit,
cannot arrive at reasonable

Conclusions while
consulting pundits
intent on encysting

Against all intruders;
signs incite an offensive waged
this season by the whitest

Of lymphocytes


Scott Simpson is a walker of dogs who lives in a mostly rural state in the US and occasionally speaks to teachers. They pay him to speak to teachers, but his dogs often listen better because he sometimes lets them lick his morning oatmeal bowl when he's through. Scott wonders, since his state has the lowest paid teachers in the country, if the teachers might listen better if the state offered them a bowl to lick. Of course, it does . . . but that's about all it offers--unless the Feds come in with some special treat wanting them to learn some tricks like "roll over" and "beg" (but never, NEVER "speak"). Scott often wonders if this is the best his state can do for its students and the people tasked with helping them grow . . .
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