Living in
her shadow
over forty
years have
gone by.
But I still
remember
her **** rule
as if It
were yesterday.
Mrs. Satterfield.
my fourth grade
teacher
at Lincoln
elementary
in Lynwood California.
.
and every
now and
then when
I think about
her. I feel
a need
to straighten up
my posture,
turn in
all of my homework
on top
her cracked
and peeling old
wooden desk.
spit out
my gum.
and look
to the
nearest
clock,
and count the
minutes until
lunch or
when I
get my release
to go home.
"no
gum chewing
allowed!" I'm
certain
it is on
her head stone
somewhere.
but I am still
much too
afraid to
go on
a little
escapade
to look.
so I sit
still.
very still.
waiting for the
bells of
independence.
from Mrs. Satterfield"s
fourth grade
class to ring
in my head.
sometimes it is
almost like
I never
left.
sometimes
I can see
her looking at
me from across
the room.
and sometimes
forty years
later, bless
her soul
she smiles.