Swizzle Stick

Conclusions

Conclusions, said
my students, are hard.
How do you write
a good one, that
doesn’t synonymously
rehash, repeat
the introduction?

How do you not
let your whole
essay down
with a rushed
& repetitive
ending?

There’s a formula
for paragraphs
in the academic
register, a checklist
of requirements
for an introduction

but how to conclude
with a summative air,
the point made
clearly & firmly?

My chalk is thrown
down now, my teaching life
done, yet still
I think about conclusions.