The colour of marbles counted
at noon into a damp towel
and tied into a bunch of grapes
hangs like the tree of vows
at one end of papa’s coat-hanger
(I am glad Adelaide taught me to add.)

It was fun plucking olives
from the backyard of the convent
always depriving the nuns
of their yearly pickle production
(Berthela taught me subtraction.)

Make a sacrifice
give away a bite of chocolate
to the sweeper woman’s daughter
(with a bread knife Valeria taught me to divide.)

They cajoled one word in between
all those radiant reader classes
‘if you give us something
and if everybody gives us
something’,
we can build All Saints’
this vacation
(Linda taught me multiplication.)