An Ode to May
If April showers bring May flowers,
Let me say with fret,
I’d really like to stop and smell them
But school’s not over yet.
Back in August, even September,
I was really on my game.
With homework, lunches, permission slips,
Sleep schedules, art in frames.
But now it’s Spring and the end is near
And the fever we’ve all got.
We are ready for the summer
And pretend it’s warm and hot.
And even though I know deep down
That I’m not setting good example,
I just can’t help that my apathy
Has become more than ample.
The lunches, oh, the lunches!
Packing them has me in tears,
I feel like I’ve been slapping ham on bread
For forty-seven years.
Where I used to slice fresh berries
Now I count jelly on a cracker
And curse myself for telling my kids
That it’s cool to be a packer.
And homework, oh, the homework!
I’m not checking you anymore.
If I have to sort through one more folder
You’ll find me drooling on the floor.
I’m not helping more with math,
I’m not checking extended answer.
I’m not checking extended answer.
Don’t tell me you’ve got a big report--
You’ll never see me run any faster.
You’ll never see me run any faster.
And testing, oh, the testing!
It’s a never-ending treat!
Please stop telling me that you need
A healthy breakfast to eat.
Please stop telling me that
You need a full night’s sleep.
Forcing bedtime when it’s light outside
Makes even me start to weep.
And extras, oh, the extras!
All those other special things you do,
I love your talent but all these things
Are a lot for us to sit through.
By month’s end I’ll have seen you run
And sing and play and throw and bat,
I’ll be sunburnt at soccer games
And my rear will be quite flat.
We’ll not eat a family meal
During all this running round,
Unless you count a fast food combo
In shifts, upon the ground.
We’ll not have a tidy house,
Nor spic and span one
by far,
We’ll barely have clean clothes to wear
Because I’ve been living in the car.
And though I know I’ll miss these days
When you are grown and gone,
The month of May seems to go
On and on and on.
But at the end there is a summer
That makes me smile and spin!
No homework, no testing, to extras,
And we can finally sleep in!
Nearly three months of freedom
For kid and parent, too,
Then we start all over fresh,
Loving what we do.
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