in the margin

she forgot she’d written mind melt
…only it wasn’t that prim…
in the textbook’s margin
for Walt Whitman’s poem
“Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”
she’d flashed that page
on a classroom screen
tenth graders…
got their attention
and a parent’s call

she wrote on all her books…
ones she paid for…ones she kept
ones she hoped someone
would find some day…
interpret her handwriting,
read some comments
from the margins of her mind
engage enough to disagree
or think…right on…you nailed it girl
make that connection
mind melt…time and space

bonnie marshall