first day of school

this time last year, my grandmother was my major preoccupation, and my grandson but an anticipated joy. this year, my grandmother is a memory and my grandson is 30 lbs.

last year libby started high school...this year she starts tenth grade. the end is in sight - some day soon, there'll be no need for me to drive her to the end of the drive, wait with her for the bus to trundle around the corner and down the hill. the rhythm of my days will take on a new shape, form a new song.

but until that day comes, for all the mothers (and fathers) and all the women (and men) who stand and wait and wave, to new-minted school children in shiny new clothes and dirty sneakers, i reprise this poem i wrote for my sister, on her birthday:

i am a woman
who stands
at the end of a driveway
with a child
waiting for the school bus
to rumble up the road
while the sunlight flames
through the trees.

i am a woman
who waits
at the end of a driveway
looking for the school bus
to tumble down the road
spilling children
while the shadows darken
across the fields.

i am a woman
who sees
at the end of a driveway
the seasons rise up,
then fade;
and school buses come and go
churning children
across the years.

and furthermore, the war must end. blessed be.