on blackboards, and the quotes of geometry class (23, 24 feb)

his daughter's name is grace
and she was,
and probably still is,
a dancer
and she's the same age as me
which i found to be
a funny coincidence

he stood erect
a gaunt man with leather skin
mr. rogers sweaters
and preying mantis arms
i don't remember his name

he taught us geometry
some of which
i barely recall

every morning meant walking into his classroom
assigned seats
next to the kid that jacked off
to pythagorean's theorem
and on the blackboard to the left
was written a sentence
an assemblage of words

this is what i remember.
that
and the smooth oak of his voice
annoyingly calm
reading out the day's quote

and of all the days
and all the quips recited
here is the one i retained:
the bored is more contemptible than the bore

and i remembered this last night
as i was dragging myself to sleep
anticipating the alarm in
four hours time

and something far less attractive
than a flower
bloomed in my mind
a realization:
i am bored.