Arnis is a Ph.D student in Language and Linguistics and a tutor of Creative Writing in University of South Australia. She has published three books of poems since 2017. Her poems in English are also published in Verse Magazine (Australia) and TEXT Journal (forthcoming).

 

My class is my restaurant

And I am the chef

School canteen only gives us white bread

and they suppose it is the best

for everyone, now and next

Students are my best costumers

I make them sandwich of their flavor

give them takeaway for the later

Where do I get the toaster?

The headmaster doesn’t concern

Where do I get the jam?

He doesn’t care

Where do I get the butter?

He doesn’t hear

Where do I get money to buy?

He would ask me “Why?”

 

I can’t let them eat the white bread

While I can fight to get some spread

Even if it is from my own kitchen

Even if it is from my own purse

They deserve tuna sandwich

For a journey that they wish

They will go in different directions

Not the direction of white bread, it’s different

 

Outside my class, I am none but a waiter

I am asked to serve the white bread

The same one that the school canteen had

They said “bread is bread. Everyone needs bread”

“We already prepare everyone to serve bread”

For the safety of my job

I just said “I already gave them bread”

I kept the secret to my students

 I kept the suffer to myself

The principal looks happy

And I am satisfied.