The room is stifling
Suffocating holding me down
As the fan blows hot air in
Around and around

The screen stares at me
Blank
Homework should be done
But the telephone rang

I pick it up
It’s my best friend
I can’t tell her no
It’s about men

Finally we’re done
But the page is still empty
My book lies wide open
Still I can’t type any

Then the words rush in
Like a river
When a dam breaks wide open
And crashes as a hammer

And my hands start to move
And my mouth tags along
And the letters fall out
And soon it’s all wrong

The backspace is there
But some of it fits
Just the phrasing seems off
It can be fixed

Then it’s ready
Completed and read through
A breath of relief
And it was then that I knew

Everything would be OK
My poem finished
Maybe it would be read someday
But who cared – I didn’t