POETRY FRIDAY

My large urban district, rarely, actually almost never calls a snow day. The plowing teams are terrific, we don't have any rural schools, and our parents, mostly working poor, depend on us not only to educate their children, but also to care for them during the day, and feed them breakfast and lunch. 

Yesterday was different. It's been snowing off and on since Monday and there's more than a foot on the ground (I know people on the East coast have a lot more). For some reason, the superintendent decided to call a snow day, but he didn't do it until after six. By that point, I was already on my way to school. This is an abecedarian, 

"Anatomy of a snowy morning"

Alarm goes off extra early, I lay there

Building the day’s schedule

Checking agendas for five vertical team meetings, and tonight’s two hour inservice

Dreaming dogs groan as I

Exit that haven of warmth and head to the cold kitchen

Feels like -5, according to weather channel, even though it’s actually a balmy zero

Gotta shovel the six inches of snow that have fallen overnight

Helping to make this February the third snowiest on record

Icy sidewalks, icy windshield, icy cold car

Just doesn’t want to warm up and I

Keep counting pennies, contemplating sandy beaches while wiggling frozen toes

Longing for lavender tulips and yellow daffodils,

Major thoroughfares are clear as I

Navigate the nearly empty early morning streets with

Only a few slip and slides arriving at school

Parking lot empty except for lunch ladies and one first year teacher

Quiet school is waiting and I think there

Really should be a few more people

Starting to arrive, until custodian appears and

Tells me the superintendent has called a snow day

Up until 6:00 when I left home it was

Very cold, but the district website said the buses would be running

Why wouldn’t there be school

eXtreme cold and a minor blizzard never stopped us before

Yawning, I head to my office thinking

Zealous early birds do not always catch the worm.

(c) Carol Wilcox

Poetry Friday is at Heidi's My Juicy Little Universe