The children you want to send to my classroom

in the fall

are not

the same children who left my classroom

in the winter.

These are children who have been taught

life lessons

not like you

and

not like I.

I like to think they have learned

about the world

from homes

that will miss them when they’re gone

like I have missed them while we’ve been gone,

that love them

as I loved them

within the safety of my four classroom walls

with daily hugs

and conversations that made them

think and smile.

But what I know to be true

is that some

have not seen

love or learning or life

since March 13th.