It moves like molasses
That patch of daylight hesitating on the wall
Don’t stare at it!
Try to pretend
you’re paying attention
with pencil poised
scratching temporarily suspended
Like a breath
Like
The penultimate
minute
stretching between
two
fifty
nine
and freedom
____
For Gargleblaster 159: Have all your clocks stopped?
Textwall 
Ohh…I even feel this sticky itch as an adult in the classroom. Worse yet, when I’m subbing. I commiserate.
Sticky itch is perfect! I mean, I liked school, and even then… I could tell the teachers felt it too 🙂
So I’m not an ADD teacher…whew!
heh, I love this– the pace of it especially.
Thanks! I tried the line breaks in about a thousand different places on my way to this configuration.
Looks nice!! 🙂
~S(t)ri Writes
I just ditched my original gargleblaster that was fermenting in my drafts folder because this reminded me of a beloved English teacher I had. Wrote an entirely new one. Thanks for the inspiration.
Best. Compliment. Ever.
Grats on making the Top Row 7. I wouldn’t have been there without your inspiration.
fabulous and the line breaks add so much texture – wonderful piece
YES! my first thought when I saw the prompt was to write about the last 15 minutes of anything, before work is over, before church is over, before class is over. You did it so well, I love the image of a pencil poised for something important to be said and recorded even when are silently packing our things away in our heads.
I really liked this.
Thanks! In my school, all the clocks were run off a central clock in the principal’s office. Sometimes when they needed to sync up they would stop and actually run backwards for a while. This was particularly heartbreaking when it happened in what you thought was the last five minutes of class….
You provided the perfect imagery of how time can drag on and on and on when we only want it to move. Loved it!
This brought back a lot of memories for me–both as a student and as a teacher. Sometimes that clock just will not move, especially on Fridays.
I love how many teachers are responding to this post!
LoveloveLOVE the stretched out type. So effective.
Wonderful piece.
I was always a clock watcher when I was in school. Isn’t it funny how slow time seemed to pass by then, and how much faster it goes by now that I’m older?
I love how this whole poem stretches out like molasses – it’s very well done. Especially the last 4-5 lines. What a great way to use the form to help tell the story. Thanks so much for sharing it! 🙂
I very vividly remember the last couple minutes of the final class of the day stretching on for what seemed like eternity. Fantastic 42.
Excellent!
Very well done. The clocks have definitely stopped. Love the words and the execution.