eraser

when i was in high school
the english teacher
gave us a homework

he said: please write
a poem with meaning
about an eraser

i looked at my pencil
and its eraser
and started thinking

a friend of mine
a violin player
made a proposal

he said he has
a great idea
about a poem

he asked my help
because his english
was very bad

we sat together
and wrote a poem
about an eraser

the thoughts were his
the words were mine
and there it was:

"this life will test you
you may shed tears
after the laughter"

"i fell in love
she broke my heart
she loved another"

"how can i survive
such a disaster
without an eraser"

"how can i forgive
and cleanse my soul
without an eraser"

"thank you, dear God
for all the testing
and for the eraser"

the english teacher
said: the best poem
was by an imposter

he scolded my friend
and punished him
and called him a cheater

i said, dear teacher
doesn't your heart
have an eraser?

we meant it well
a beautiful poem
we wrote together

the teacher refused
he held a grudge
scorned me forever

i left the class
i studied russian
in the year after