Wish I was still
in the classroom
to tack these two
posters on the wall
like this:  

you                  don’t
matter              give up  

Mostly because
I miss making
my students laugh
just like I miss  

bells, sneakers, pencils, open house, broken sharpeners, homework, backpacks, markers, cafeteria lines, highlighters, lockers, bulletin boards, pizza day, lectures, prom, stickers, buses, gum, posters, detention, gold stars, fire drills, crayons, lesson plans, desks, announcements, hall passes, hoodies, grade books, commencement.  

don’t               give up
you                  matter