- The Next Day
He hasn't gone to Team 7 meetings,
he hasn't go to sleep,
he hasn't stopped to catch his breath-
he can't stop talking.
he's showing me his stuff,
tons of stuff he bought,
stuff he bought this afternoon
when he went shopping.
The chunin break room is filled with bags.
Way too many bags.
Bags crammed full with too much stuff,
they're overflowing.
He's emptying them out:
fifty bars of soap,
feather dusters, ping pong balls,
a ski mask, fish bowls,
twelve pairs of sexy shoes
(the kind he wouldn't wear),
stationary monogrammed
with the wrong initials.
I'm sitting at a table,
watching him,
listening to Naruto rave
on and on and
just outside the door
angry whispers rise
trying not to let us hear
our sensei's fighting.
I'm hunched over at the table,
pulling at my hair
wishing I would wake up
and end this nightmare.