The Music That Learns Us

By Rodney Terich Leonard
Facing the blackboard,
the teacher whistles
a melody of marbled tenderness.
Entanglement,
intrigue or spook?
Perhaps,
in retrospect,
Monday thoughts
of cared-for cashmere
or the end bite
of Sunday's sweet potato.
It simmers & simmers,
the music that learns us;
The Mamas & the Papas
Queen Latifah singing
"California Dreamin'."
The ear is nobody's fool.

Copyright Credit: Rodney Terich Leonard, "The Music That Learns Us" from Sweetgum & Lightning. Copyright © 2021 by Rodney Terich Leonard.  Reprinted by permission of Four Way Books, www.fourwaybooks.com.
Source: Sweetgum & Lightning (Four Way Books, 2021)