She thought
It would be over
In a minute.
She would open her eyes
(or close them, who knows?)
And chew off the cord
Wrapped around her neck
And swim into the light.

She didn’t
Expect her mother
To shut off the light and
Put coins on her eyelids
(to keep the soul in, who’d have guessed?)
And call the school to say
They were to blame.

She had
Only wanted to sleep
For a minute
And have somebody wake her up
When it was over.
When P.E. ended,
When math ended,
When the locker room ended,
When the bathroom ended,
When the pain,
And the tears,
And the sneers,
And the screams
Ended.

But nobody
Tried to wake her up.
And so she was buried under Roses
With the thorns still pricking
And P.E., math, tears
Still going.

She’s still
Buried, but the Roses
Have wilted and the thorns poke
Bone instead of flesh.
All that is left are the
Coins keeping her
There.