flesh would melt

to evaporate
to turn to steam

to dissipate

i stare at my handwriting scrawled on a 3x5 notecard and sigh. yesterday, during 4th block, i erupted at a student who had rudely slept through my class, then woke up at the end of class and ate handfuls of food she had hidden in her purse.

later that night, i lay awake, trying to remember a line from shakespeare's hamlet. something about sullied flesh melting. or was it thawing? thawing or melting?

it was melting and thawing. but was it melting first, then thawing? that wouldn't make any sense. it had to thaw first, then melt. what was the difference between thawing and melting?

"okay, you know what? you don't need to be here. why do you even come to school?"

"i was listening! i could hear every word you said!"

"there's no way! i called on you to read, and you didn't respond; how could you be listening? why don't you just drop out of school?"



i looked it up. the exact line was :

o, that this too too sullied flesh would melt,
thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!