Thursday, April 11, 2013

School Bus


4.11.13

That first day you put them on the bus
To head to Kindergarten without you
It is a hard day, even if tv commercials
Have stolen the sentimentality
Of course they never really take the bus
The first day, you take them, and
Take pictures with their first backpack

Little ones are usually compliant
So for years you walk them to the bus stop
To insure that they didn’t get kidnapped four doors
Down from your house with all the other
Parents or caregivers keeping out a watch

Then comes middle school and you are banned
From even venturing out of your house
Fights start to ensue about taking a lunch or
Getting money to just buy chips and a drink
You finally give in when you are called
To the school because a stench is coming
From your kid’s locker
And there are 30 brown bags stuffed in there
Along with all the hoodies that were supposedly lost

Then comes high school. No teenager should
Have to be at the bus stop in the dark at 7 am
But now you are banned from even leaving your bedroom
Of course until you hear the front door open and slam
And you hear Mom, I missed the bus

I thought I hated all that. Especially the later years.
Now I can hear each bus as it stops in both the morning
And the afternoon. High School, Middle and then Elementary
Picking up and dropping off the most precious cargo ever
And I miss it. I miss it. I miss it.

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