The little girl does her homework
on the dining room table
now her classroom.
The virus has made her housebound, lonely,
aching for companionship other than Cousin Kay,
who stays with her while Mom works.
Missing school despite the playground politics,
papers returned to her scarred with red ink ,
teacher breath reeking of coffee.
She lines up erasers shaped like kittens
and teddy bears and baseballs.
She names them, offers  them graham crackers
smeared with peanut butter and marshmallow fluff.
They are her pandemic classmates.