Shadows

My posts will continue to be sporadic; I don't have students until next week. In the meantime, I'll share whatever strikes me, and today it was the "stripe" of the lawn near my office. The shadows are one of the first glimpses of the season changing for me. The sun in Minnesota starts to hang a little lower in the sky, and I shut the drapes earlier in the evening. We have had some cool overnights too, needing a jacket to sit on the deck. The public schools are hosting their "back to school" jamborees.
Students get their schedules,
find their lockers and try combinations,
shop for rulers and erasers. What's a protractor?
Parents buy tennis shoes and
put money in lunch accounts,
write more checks than they have written all summer. What's a tech. ed. fee?
Tensions are mounting for everyone-
are my friends in my class,
are my teachers nice,
what will this year hold?
Will my child do well,
will he fit in,
what will this year hold?

And the shadows leak slowly toward the sidewalk.