Line up (alphabetical order, of course)

Clutch my pens, blue and black
fingernails digging into palms
leaving half-moons imprinted on my hand.

File past the primary girls – it's lunchtime,
their plastic lunchboxes blur
pink, yellow, blue, green.

Almost there.
Up the stairs.

To the desk –
the seat is stone cold.
Watch the clock.

The paper sits
smoldering on the desk.

The second hand ticks twelve.

And so the exam begins.

Here we go again.