My steps up the blacktop walkway from the lower parking lot sound louder and louder. The off-white, windowed, one-story hallway ahead grows. My heart beats faster with each step. A knot in my throat, like an invisible hand choking me, tightens. By the time I reach the door, I have breathed so many short breaths that I wonder why I don’t pass out.
no blue skies
over TZHS
another dread day
The front steps from the double-width sidewalk ascend like the stairs of an ancient Greco-Roman temple. The wrought-iron door groans as I pull it from its doorway. I slip past the metal detectors, ascend the spiral staircase to the second floor. Then, I enter the Special Education prep room and lounge. Linda S, already there, laughs so loudly, even first thing in the morning.
thunderheads
over Columbus High School
just another day
first published in Image Curve, September 5, 2019
for dVerse Poets Pub’s OLN #250 (pubtended by Grace)
The pub is still open! Come join us!
Frank J. Tassone 
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