Poem-a-day - April 17

Today's challenge - write about science

Mr. Goebel's 8th Grade Science Room

had the necessary

red geraniums growing

on the windowsill,

bunson burners

I never remember using.

A microscope in front

we lined up to look through,

a glass aquarium in the back

with a blue racer snake.

Alfonso tried to pick up

the snake one day,

got it by the tail.

Snake looped up and bit him

whereupon he released it.

I was and wasn't surprised

that Alfonso had red blood.

We jumped onto our chairs.

Mr. Goebel cornered the snake.

This was the biggest

event of science class

that year. The thing

that made our hearts race,

our head's spin.

How that snake taught

us something about wildness

and fear -- about the color

of blood we all shared,

about how we still needed

an adult to keep us safe.