Teacher's Refining Fire

You were my least liked teacher, ball of fire Your red tresses bouncing, your flaming ire When misspelled words in ash dust white That blackboard smoked, your burning might Of lazy penned words written lame Though, you never shared the names It was so often clear to see The guilty squirm in misery You calculated with your eyes Guilt verdict with no alibies. And, oh! so often it was me I'd hide if I could ever be Small as tissue, in the trash With burning cheeks, on face of ash OH! You made me very mad The toughest teach I ever had But then you introduced to class A golden gift to this young lass You spoke, "Now we'll do poetry!" A subject that was dear to me I looked for beauty in the place I'd always felt was a disgrace I missed the green hills and the bay I missed the joys of San Jose But look, I must, for beauty there The desert land that felt so bare 'Out in the desert, late at night' My little hand began to write ' The coyotes sing, crickets keep beat Cool night's joy, replaces heat The owl sets out on nightly quest "Who, whoo's my meal?" ever his jest The man in the moon witnessed escapes Wild dashes for thorn bush drapes The merry stars with twinkling eyes Laughed at the hoot owl's great surprise Kangaroo rat leaps in delight Out in the desert late at night' Teacher, the warmth that I found in your eyes When you wrote my poem to my utter surprise In a gentle running script, a hush Fell on our class, as I started to blush Dear teacher kept me after class "Well done!" said she to this young lass Oh, Teacher! Your sweet gift I hold Your refiner's fire, refining our gold I held your gift, and, in my heart, I let it burn, and play its part I promised and studied, all that summer You taught me to be an overcomer For in the fall With summer past I was top speller in my class