The Teacher

The Teacher by Edmund Siejka His grandchildren were playing Shrieks and laughter Tugging at his memory Catapulting him on a journey Back to his childhood. Three brothers One sister And he made five. Being the youngest And the smallest of the lot Family watched over him And mother spoiled him. In third grade He was just a face In Mrs. Early’s crowded classroom Sitting all the way in the back Near the cloakroom. Teacher watched him Doing his best Memorizing multiplication tables Division and subtraction Reading adventure stories Of pirates, cowboys and space machines. At recess his sister would look for him To see if he was OK And at the end of a long school day There was always an older brother to walk him home. Looking back those were kinder days Easy days Fun days When every day was a Saturday. He recalled his teacher’s kindness How she welcomed him to her class With a smile and a hug But the one thing he always remembered When he met her again Years and years ago Was that she never forgot his name.