Ms. Lindsey , you call yourself a bae
But you hide the tears on a paper napkin at lunch
Overall your overalls can't cloak your depression,
Your feelings of uselessness,
Your broken smiles, and detest of your ex


Kids no longer shoot paper ball at the teachers, afraid to see you crumble
Girls no longer roll their eyes as you compliment their hair
Fear creeps up people's spine, but not the way Mrs. Rogers does it
Don't you see?
Don't you that we're harming your happiness?

The quiet girl with a book in her nose approaches you
After all, she's nosy
And she asks you, "What's wrong? Why are you crying? Are you okay?"
You smile that same broken smile, laugh, and say, "Don't fall in love, ever.
People are only out to hurt people."
The next day you were gone

Ms. Lindsey, you never came back
But we found your folder showing us your hours worth of lesson plans
In the end our ignorance and judgement taught us that there is more people than meets the eye
Your lessons on the solar system struck us and are embedded
Your broken smiles taught us even the broken can function