By Natasha Rao
In fourth grade
they put our hands
under show boxes
to see how fast
we could say:
fox moves quickly I
am Sam: but really
the words they
should have prepared
us to type fast
with our eyes
closed were time
is running out things
are terribly wrong
and I miss you
so much. The world
is different now
or what’s different
is that I know
of tits dangers
this week on TV
another long-awaited
trial the verdict again
unjust I cried then typed
one long sentence
I’m still a small body
on a big planet I’m still
the same person thinking
about foxes and the speed
at which they can run
and I wonder if
Mrs. Cannatelli knew
which animals
would disappear first
I guess there’s a lot
I didn’t see coming
I remember not being
afraid I remember
eraser caps and having
the highest typing score
and that being all
that mattered
as though perfection
were a guarantee
of survival as though
with enough practice
I would be equipped
for any of this.
Natasha Rao, "Type to Learn" from Latitude . Copyright © 2021 by Natasha Rao. Reprinted by permission of Copper Canyon Press, www.coppercanyonpress.org.
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