They stood at the door to my class this morning

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed like usual

But many paused with a fairy wish,

Happy Valentine’s Day. The treasures tumbled

In too; a jar of tulips, a chocolate rose in pink foil,

Two chocolate strawberries, a pastel painted heart

Note, cookies to share at snack time, and valentines,

More cookies iced pink and sprinkled, gummy worms,

Kit Kats, and later there were rainbow heart pencils, sheets of

Scratch and sniff heart stickers. Notebooks for the boys

That read, I chews you. Ah, tousle-headed, freckle-faced,

shiny-finy children—you’re more than I ever asked for.