Grading an essay

From the stack I pull one more:
Chris’s.

He writes about an aircraft carrier, describes
a cliché sea and sky

I airlift my red pen
it hovers over phrases I wish I could change

I hesitate, add one comma
then stop pretending I can grade this essay

suddenly it’s 1968
I am twelve and listening to the Beatles
and Chris is fighting in Vietnam



By Jim Ott