#92 Kevin Brophy ‘Apple’

At seven o’clock they come in by the gate

sleepy headed, uncombed, bare footed,

walking as if they have walked all night

to get here. They are preparing themselves

for a day in English, in a uniform, at tables

where the future might open one eye

and look at them with something like

a promise that says yes it is possible to live

several lives at once, and to walk around inside

each one of them like some Adam full of apples 
and a head full of all the world's words for apple.