At the very top are boys from Eckstein's awesome 2023 Basketball Team sporting school colors. Below that are shirts from various years including one from when they were the roadrunners. They switched the mascot over to Eagles when I was there.
Stream poured down the school’s hill
filling up the full width of the sidewalk.
Each weekday they’d spill
this flood of student’s joyous talk.
Embellished in mascot spirt pride
good things about the place they attend
not something they felt they had to hide
while walking side by side with their friend.
Looking to revive memory of Junior High
so I rented from the video store Eighth Grade.
A main character that was also quite shy
little else was in common the deeper I wade.
Bo Burnham’s film was far too bleak
Most experiences back then are quite varied
and not just 90% awkward speak.
Why ignore all the awesomeness it carried?
Packs of kids fill the tables at noon
and in between nibbles and munches
today they’ll receive an added boon
as Skot compares two lunches.
“Contrast this meal made by his parent and
how unalike it is to hers. Is this a plus?
The range in how each guardian planned
but both still have the
same love for us.”
At the sound of the bell us kids ran off to lunch
though there was no shortage of time
just hours of increasing restless energy.
Running past where the ice cream truck would stop
during the slower days of Summer Music School
a time when life’s most pressing concern
was which cartoon character ice cream to buy.
Jazz music came out of the cafeteria
of the schools’ rummage sale fundraiser.
as I think of this years’ news reports
“districts have no time for 20 minute lunch breaks.”
Flipping through the stacks of on sale books
I come across a title, Peace Is Every Step,
a few kids play the opening lines of Stairway to Heaven
as I page through the book with the dandelion cover.
The author told
of when his mom would come home
after a long day shopping at the market
she always bought a giant cookie for him
which he spent 45 minutes eating
while rubbing the dog
being totally in the moment.
I’m glad this school now teaches being present
so students will not let the time mindlessly pass.
The sign next to Mr. Adam’s clock read
“Time will pass but will you?”
This framing got some of the students to ask
does my assignment achieve the minimum?
If I get to this level can I get through this class?
What is the worst quality I can possibly produce
and avoid failing the class?
Mr. Adams replies,
How is it you pick your clothes?
Do you purchase outfits from a company
with little knowledge of how to stitch?
When you frequent restaurants
do the cooks have barely an idea what is edible?
Some day when your goods are on the market
you wouldn’t want to buy the fruits of your labor!
“So often I hear students say I don’t like what is for lunch.
You know you don’t have to be served what they give you
do you know how to avoid bad food?”
Stop giving the lunch servers your money
they will cater their to your preferences
if they see their income is no longer incoming.”
A teacher’s influence
would often go far beyond each class.
At lunch Mr. Adams bypassed the staff lounge,
he knew that a good school experience
could be so much more then issuing assignments.
A small gesture that seemed to be lost in time.
Yet what I brought back from the stage
wasn’t just what I learned in each paper I wrote
but what comes out all these years later in rhyme.
The stench of the school dumpster was wretched
but I badly needed my retainer among the disposed foods.
Janitor didn’t provide me a nose plug to lower this acrid
so the smell I continue to battle as its dominance obtrudes.
Counting the minutes to when I can have new air inflow,
when can I be in front of a dinner with sweet scents?
I’ll be sure to eagle eye that retainer case tomorrow
as this vitriol stench
g r a d u a l l y…
m e r c i f u l l y
relents.
