Thorny on purpose said the stage directions

I was talked into this by the children

convinced it would help with moving on

as if move necessitates onward

especially if the feared directions

are backwards or sideways.

What about not moving at all

I said amidst strained stares

what about a sitting class

or a class in staring out the window?

Nobody laughed or even glanced–

as if I weren’t in the room, sitting

near the cat on our own formerly

stylish green suede sofa, faded from sun

and use. What is the purpose of thorny,

I asked, to appear to have thorns

to pretend thorniness, with what purpose

if there are not thorns? What purpose indeed?

These thorns I have never possessed.