casino

tipsy turvy
late night screens
best friends with the send key
just another motherfucker to pass the time
       better find your balance

outside inside
mental interruptions
electronic theme song holding down reality

kids play inside heart shaped-dice
unaware of the game being rolled


moved

like

marbles

     lost in the sandbox
the kids never care about finding

the bell has rung
FREEZE!
(or it'll be detention)
and class has started again


just enough to step
in line
we go
march march march
apart

don't touch anyone else
cooties may consume you
"hands to ourselves!"
you'd never be promoted to the next grade if they do

my my my
have we forgotten to tie our shoe?

don't trip

daydreams of basketballs bouncing interrupt class productivity
kiss away the lesson for child's play
ring ring
send key

open sesame to
a can of fried worms we're too afraid to eat
so we just sit there and let it stink

the stench lingering
soaked up by the moment
and the other moments that are forced to share in the scent
soaked into playschool jeans and recess hair

read
 click
  read
   click
 read
flip a page at the library
steal the books you really wanna checkout
since the librarian says you can only checkout three

knots knots
piles of excuses
blame it on the fact that they're young
blame it on the fact that they're "free"