Lori Wall-Holloway

6th Grade Blues

Embarrassed going
to school in ’32 Ford
Praying no one sees

Buy fruit and cupcake
to add to my brown bag lunch
Yearn for hot dog day

My class heads for camp
while I stay back with homework
Cheeks swollen with mumps

Last Week of School, 2020

Pandemic continues 

as I play teacher 

for two of my grand-

daughters whose schools 

closed due to a quarantine

But on a rainy spring day

they stay home

I walk for exercise but feel

lost not able to help the girls

begin to complete  their last

week of instruction

My goals have become 

theirs and I feel unable

to get back on track 

with my projects that lie 

hidden in the closet

and on the computer

So I decide to shop online

and try to prepare 

for the summer before fall 

possibly turns my home

into a learning 

facility once more



Search for a Prize

(For Bobby Muzingo)

Sitting in a tiny room surrounded
by small cartons of cold white
milk, my brother serves
as Milk Monitor at our school
After he exchanges the beverage
for five cents from each student
in line, he carefully combs
through the coinage
to search for prized monies
he can bring home to Dad for
his coin collection

Bobby carries extra change
with him in case he finds
silver dimes and quarters
But the treasure he seeks
is a nickel or penny stamped
twice by the Nation’s
Mint known as a Double Die

He never finds such a prize
but the time he spends
with our father pouring
over collector’s books
and checking out the change
he brings home is invaluable
as they share the same hobby