BPR 53 | 2026
P A S T O R A L I wrote on a mauve blackboard.
The students sat in silence. Sleepy, bored—
there was no telling. Nor did I know why
I’d chosen to discuss this comedy.
Had As You Like It even been assigned?
From storage in some crevice of my mind
names and plot details, unexpectedly
surfacing, came streaming out of me.
Lords in the forest, lovestruck swains, disguises,
the truths that exile’s subterfuge devises—
what was it that I hoped they might retain?
Characters, the play’s each twist and turn—
surely not. Notes on a purple pad
hovered, as illegible as cloud.
Blackboard, whiteboard merging into mauve:
color of dawn, of sunset, and of love.
P A S T O R A L in block capitals I traced.
The word was still there, big and unerased
when I left the room and shut the door.
The quiet students—were they still in there?
I wouldn’t be returning anymore.