The Rag

When Jim fell of the steps
the Choir laughed
while eating from bags of chips
hidden inside their gowns

The greasy sheet music
collected by the conductor
at the end of practice
left a stain on his ungraded
term papers which he left
next to the pile of sheet music
on his Oak desk

he paged the secretary and asked
her to walk across campus
to select the cleanest white Rag from
the collection of the Head of Catering Services
in the Food Court
she paid him for the rag with her
friendliest smile and a single reflection
from the fluorescent tube lights in the ceiling
onto her Finest Tooth, just topping the rest of the
set by a tiny degree of perfection
It was visible only when she stood turned at a specific angle,
that of which she was acutely aware,
and had her lips curled upward in a certain kind of smile.
Only a selection of this Perfect Tooth showed,
but it danced so in a symphony of magnificent Fluorescence,

that the Head of Catering Services noticed with a painful awareness
-- that which reached into his thighs and down to his toes --
how meticulously planned this occasion had been.

The detachment he felt when she
thanked him so casually and
turned on her toes
to leave with his Most Prized Rag
(having been preserved among the richest of cleaning supplies)
was as unfamiliar to the noble director as it was shocking

She was back within eight minutes, the time allotted for her absence,
to deliver the boss his request.

"this is an inspiring acquisition," he said, as she stifled a toothless smile.
"this is an inspiring acquisition," he repeated, as he wiped the large potato chip grease stain
from a perfectly hand-carved corner of his desk
& tossed the Rag in the waste bin.