Thank You

Are you still wearing flowers in your hair

in your invisible home?

Do you still teach Shakespeare to sixth graders 

and cast the outcast as the lead?

How long has it been since you have closed your eyes

to listen to the hum hum thud of the heater

and then written about it? 

Invisible homes must have invisible heaters--

hopefully they still make noise for you.

Are you still fighting juvenile vandalism 

with Sherlock Holmes skills 

and a little healthy intimidation?

It worked so well.

Are you still changing lives and directing paths,

fanning sparks and inspiring young minds?

Have you run out of the tube of ruby red lipstick

you wore on the first snow of each year?

You colored the cold world with your smile.

Did you know that I loved him with my whole 11 year old heart

when you arranged the seating chart

to give me a perfect view of the back of his perfect curly head,

the only thing that could distract me from those magical words.  

Do you know that I think about you every time I use a semi-colon;

do you know that I use them a lot?

What you should know, without a doubt,

is that there is a letter for you waiting in my memory box

until the day I find the address to your invisible house 

when it will be promptly mailed to your invisible mailbox,

and you will open it and read it and clearly remember me,

Jessica Drake, your student. 

And then you will know, without a doubt,

that you have made a difference in at least one life

and no matter how much (or how little) they pay you, 

it will not be enough.

Thank you.