A Tale Worthy Of Phrynichus Poem by Charles Chaim Wax

Percy Fleming sat on the couch
in the Teacher’s Center
eyes red
tears still streaming down his cheeks.
Before I could ask what happened
he said, “Sam Budd fainted in class
by the time security got there
wallet gone
shoes gone
hairpiece gone
Sam gone.”
“They took his hairpiece, ” I said
not believing a kid would do such a thing.
“Dead, Bernstein
forget the wig.”
I mumbled,
“Not gonna be the real Sam
in the coffin.”
“I told the man stay home rest
no
even though
he said everything seemed
dark in his head
and two months ago he fainted
in Prospect Park
bums grabbed his wallet there also
so Sam had no ID
when he was taken to hospital
and he didn’t wake up for two days.
Of course then he told the police
his name and they called his wife
who ran there at once
but the doctors said to her:
one day he’d faint
and never wake up.
After that she couldn’t eat
even white bread
too much for her
yet the man
showed up to class each day
to instruct these youngsters
in the intricate details
of Rome’s collapse
cause he wanted
to insure their success
on the Final Exam.