By Diana Cabrera, 2019-2020 Literacy First Tutor
An intruding sound interrupts my dreams.
It’s my alarm clock.
It’s 5:15 in the morning.
Time to get dressed
Pack my lunch
And catch the bus
But all I want to do is sleep.
I hear the crunching of the leaves
And the splashing of puddles
Under my feet
As I walk with my eyes half-open, half-closed
Under the whistling breeze
Of a cold winter morning.
Raindrops fall through the trees,
And all I want to do is sleep.
I cross the busy Parker street
Clutching onto my umbrella.
I’m trying not to freeze.
Once the bus arrives,
The driver smiles at everyone he greets.
It melts the coldness out of me.
I take my seat.
I keep myself from falling asleep.
Once again, I’m on my feet
On the way to Widén Elementary
The crossing guard talks to me
As I cross the street.
Human interaction before 7am
Had never felt so genuine and sweet.
Usually, at this time,
All I think about is sleep.
I am now in the Literacy First classroom.
I reach inside of me and grab my gloom.
I throw it all away in the trashcan in the room.
I must set up for the day.
Books first but also stickers
Because we work best that way.
Especially if they have glitter!
Strangely I feel energized
Even without coffee.
“Okay, hot reads now!”
I say, throughout my pondering.
“Awesome! You reached your goal!”
My students are so great;
At first they struggled reading words,
But can now read an entire page!
The sky has cleared outside.
The sun shines through puffy clouds.
The breeze still hits me
But I’m feeling better now.
It’s like a certain magic.
I can’t explain exactly how,
But the essence of these children
Has changed my life somehow.
The day is over now.
I look forward to tomorrow.
Who knows what I could learn
From these children I have borrowed.
I walk home on this day
Thinking of each one them
How fortunate I’ve been
To be a part of this.
I hope that I have made an impact
At least half as big as the one they’ve made on me
Because sometimes there were days
When I’d just want to sleep and weep.
But as my love grew strong for them,
Their love grew strong for me.
I am very blessed
To have felt this precious glee.