The Contract

The Contract

The Contract

I am a teacher. They are civil engineers.
We study the rules of grammar.
I write on the whiteboard. Sentences in active and passive.
Either an indirect object or a direct object may become the subject of a passive sentence.
He walks in late. He wears a parka. He avoids my eyes.
The students look down.
We assume there are rules that both parties must follow.
A written or unwritten contract. He is anger and rage.
We can hear Pearl at her keyboard. A nine to five contract.
Two weeks off the first year. Three the second.
A health insurance plan through Kaiser. A high deductible.
We are nerves and muscles and vessels of blood.
We are socially acceptable behaviors.
We are brown blazers with lint on them and failed attempts at connection.
Phrases and clauses and summary notes of longing and grief.
Memos to parents who are aging.
An email to the son lost and wandering through Georgia.
A text to the neighbor who undresses in front of the window.
We signed contracts. There are expectations.
In the passive, the object of an active verb becomes the subject of a passive verb.
He brings his fist to the table. We have forgotten the contract.
He has not read the rules.