Root

in Sex Ed we were taught
the respectful way
to sit in a room full of
desks that face each other. still, 

the boys would race
to the front row to see
which of the girls wasn’t
wearing any panties, which

hadn’t folded their legs,
which had hemmed
their jean skirts shorter
that year, a man 

in a flowered shirt came
he put a condom 
on a carrot
the carrot was sharp, 

but it did not break 
the condom. I remember 
thinking it could not have been
his first choice vegetable