“The First Day of School” for dVerse Poets

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What demands a list more than deciding what to put in your book bag for the firt day of school..and what is more necessary than a list in relating the story of that big day?

First Day of School

In our house, a pencil sharpener fastened to a shelf
with a little handle I could turn myself.
All the curls of wood and lead safely caught within,
as I gave the pencil sharpener one more little spin.

Five newly sharpened pencils, clutched tight in my hand,
then bound into a secure bunch with a rubber band.
Dropped into my school bag with eraser, tablet, ruler.
Everything unused and clean.  Nothing could be cooler.

The school warning bell rings out as my saddle shoe––
crisp black and white, unblemished, for it’s stiffly new––
makes its first step out my door to cross across the street
and with other six-year-olds, to find my proper seat.

Lynnie, Henrietta, Sheila, Diane, Sharon.
Clevie,  Meridee and I, Rita, Linda, Karen.
Lyle, Keith, Clinton, Jeff, Georgie, Jimmie, Billie––
come from all directions, running willie-nillie

to get to school before the bell sounds its final peal.
All those years of playing school finally here for real.
We stand in lines inside the room as she calls our names.
No more days of playing random childhood games.

Reading and arithmetic, that little cardboard store
where we learned to count out change, make shopping lists and more.
Spelldowns standing up in front, facing towards the class.
Your hand up when you had to ask for the bathroom pass.

Marching all around the room singing “Charming Billy.”
Can he bake a cherry pie? Those lyrics were so silly.
Then we stomped and pointed–our volume without match
as we sent the boys out yonder  to the paw paw patch.

Are you too young to remember? Or is it that you’re old,
your remembrances supplanted, your memories grown cold?
Do you not recall  the ink wells and chalk erasers?
The recess bell, the sandbox, the swingers and the chasers?

The teeter-totters creaking and the merry-go-round?
Every playground adventure? That cacophonous sound
of shouts and jeers and teasings, the tether ball and slide.
All the joyous sounds before we were called inside

to spend time with Alice and Jerry,  and with “Run, Spot, run,”
reading words over and over before the day was done?
They swirled around in all our brains––phonics, words and numbers
stirred our active childhood minds from their former slumbers.

It was so many years ago that we set out that day
upon a road that later would carry us away
from that square white building with its tower and tolling bell
that for the first eight years of school we would mind so well.

Streaming in from all the sides of our little town––
brilliant students, dunces, class bully and class clown.
It was a collaboration that ultimately made
eighteen little boys and girls ready for second grade!

The dVerse Poets prompt was to construct a list poem.

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About lifelessons

My blog, which started out to be about overcoming grief, quickly grew into a blog about celebrating life. I post daily: poems, photographs, essays or stories. I've lived in countries all around the globe but have finally come to rest in Mexico, where I've lived since 2001. My books may be found on Amazon in Kindle and print format, my art in local Ajijic galleries. Hope to see you at my blog.

21 thoughts on ““The First Day of School” for dVerse Poets”

  7. Helen's avatarHelen

    “Are you too young to remember? Or is it that you’re old, your remembrances supplanted, your memories grown cold?” Well I am definitely old but remember quite well entering the first grade, that first day, those friends (still to this day) .. my father took me to the school about a week prior to first day, walked me thru and as a result first day was a breeze. I cannot thank you enough for sharing your experiences, your thougts, your emotions. This is a keeper for all of time list.

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  14. merrildsmith's avatarmerrildsmith

    I also wondered if you remembered the names of all your classmates. I don’t remember a single child in my first grade class, but I switched schools for 2-6.

    Such a well-crafted poem, Judy!

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  15. Dora's avatarDora

    I still remember the little satchel I carried. Oh and the smell of those erasers! The first day of school was always so exciting — You capture it so well, Judy!

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  16. Unknown's avatarAnn Garcia

    made me nostalgic…a lot like my own adventure.

    I read that one’s very first memory points toward your direction in life. My first is…sitting on back porch eating crackers mashed and milk poured over them. I could hear the schoolvyard nearest me. Recess! Oh. How i wanted to be at school!! I hurt that I wasn’t yet old enough. How could I possibly wait?

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