A Poem Reminded Me by Amir Elzeni

We were in fifth grade,
in Egypt, in our
gray slacks, white
collard shirts, black
shoes, ironed, pressed,
hall monitors,
the future of Egypt,

my best friend
and I sat next
to each other,
one day I can't
remember who started it
but we would take our
index finger and rub it
on the other's
arm, up and down
soft as possible,
slow and nervous,

we said that the object
was to make the other laugh,
and all day sitting in class
we would do it, under the desk,
gentle as boys could ever be,

it didn't tickle, we would
just fake laugh to keep it
alive, to give us a reason,

to keep the moon dancing
inside innocence.


Amir Elzeni, USA