Poem for a Retiring Teacher

A few weeks ago, I was asked to write a poem for one of my former teaching colleagues who was retiring. I had worked with Robin for a dozen years. She came to my elementary school after I'd been teaching there for more than twenty years. She was a wonderful addition to our teaching staff. She was hard-working, dedicated, loved children, and got along well with everyone.

As I was thinking about how to approach writing a poem about my friend, a poem by Mary O'Neill titled Miss Norma Jean Pugh, First Grade Teacher came to mind. I pulled The Random House Book of Poetry for Children off the shelf and read the poem. It was the perfect inspiration for my poem about Robin.  (Click here to read O'Neill's poem.)

A POEM FOR ROBIN

By Elaine Magliaro

On a morning in May that's sunny and bright

When robins are singing with great delight

And butterflies flit through blossomed air

And lilac scents are everywhere

And honeybees buzz around apple trees

And you feel the breath of spring in a gentle breeze...

When your whole wide world seems fresh and new

And sparkles with beads of morning dew

And you'd like to fly a kite or climb a tree,

Play with your friends down by the sea,

Ride your bike and roller blade,

And have an exciting escapade--

Who cares if two and two are four...

Or five or six or even more?

Who cares if Earth is shaped like a sphere

Or December's the last month of the year?

Well, now I do--I really do

Even though I didn't used to--

Not until I met Mrs. Berg!

She's pretty old as teachers go--

Fifty-four or six or eight or so--

But she makes her students WANT to KNOW!

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Laura Shovan has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week.