Teacher’s Prayer in May

Teacher’s prayer in May

Lord,
help me not to “check out” early.

So many of my kids have
done just that.

Summer’s promise beckons tantalizingly,
just beyond my classroom reach.

The fields behind the school
are already thick with summer.
and a groan of restlessness escapes me
as I gaze at the kite-flying sky.
How can I make a literature text
seem alive next to
this incredibly rambunctious life?

Printed words are boxy, stuffy things
next to wildly-winged,
crazily careening birds.

Even my own words, as they come out of my mouth,
look dry and printed to me.

I can’t steal their attention
away from the sky
and the fields
so in defeat
(and secret relief)
my eyes join theirs.

Only twenty days of school left.

I’m not sure if I have twenty days of teacher
left in me.

c. 1985