THE BANANA AND HOW TO USE IT

 copyright 2011 by Sam Yulish

En route to Morgan High School,

via the supermarket,

after leaving work early,

Virginia Bolin is furious.

Her son, Dale, straight A student,

has just been suspended.

According to Dr. Atkins, principal,

Dale made an obscene gesture

with a banana in the lunch room.

Inside the school, on the way to the office

and an inevitable confrontation,

Virginia passes smoky bathrooms,

littered halls, and a lunch-money shakedown;

crimes of a different nature.

Upon entering the office,

she spots Dale sitting on the detention bench.

She imagines him sporting a three foot paisley dunce hat.

Virginia comforts her son with a sarcastic

“So, who did you kill with the banana?”

And Dale smiles, unaware that his mother

is toting a purse full of ripe bananas

in the event of an uncompromising situation.