Art by Mark Shuttleworth, Words by Luigi Coppola

   www.linktr.ee/TheElephantInTheExamHall

 

Tommy sees numbers in a sea of letters,

all shapes contorting and distorting.

 

Amira’s hand cannot handle the pen –

its hidden river flowing up hill.

 

Leslie prays to The God of Questions

that they aren’t asked anything ever.

 

Mohammad’s eyes file midnight receipts

while trying to keep his head above orders.

 

Yirong keeps counting clouds for the trees

and scratches off the silver lining of every forest.

 

Tomorrow, the same dawn will rise

on the same desks, on the same tests that

Tommy, Amira, Leslie, Mohammad and Yirong 

will take, all with the same elephant

(expanding and screaming and bleeding)

hanging above them, dribbling down

crosses and zeroes on every single word

they will not write.