School 101

     It's Monday morning at 7:01.
  You’re still half asleep; your homework’s half done.
  Your shower is cold; your oatmeal’s dry.
  Your mother forgets to kiss you good-bye.
  You’re walking to school; it’s thirty degrees.
  Your fingers won’t work; your toes and ears freeze.
  Your zipper is stuck; your left sneaker squeaks.
  Your backpack strap snaps; your soup thermos leaks.
  You slip on school steps; you trip in the hall.
  The toilet floods in the bathroom stall.
  The gym door is locked; library’s the same.
  The principal greets you by the wrong name.
  Your classroom is hot; the coat rack is packed.
  Your bean sprout is dead; your clay pot is cracked.
  Your pencils are dull; the sharpener jams.
  Your fingers get crunched when your desktop slams.
  Your math partner’s gone; your neighbor is rude.
  Your teacher’s again in a crabby mood.
  The morning bell rings; it is 8:01.
  Come cozy up to the whiteboard,
  Another school day’s begun.
 ~ Douglass Evans