Elementary Poetry.

I was pacing around and, later on, sitting in my backyard and the bright sun and blue sky reminded me of something.
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One day in 5th grade, my teacher Mrs. Krauss decided to take the class outside to write poems out in the yard. She said that it was such a pretty California spring day, especially in comparison to the gloomy weather the week before, that we should all write poems about the beautiful surroundings.

The only line I remember from mine was as follows: "On this day nobody should be crying." The previous line was probably something about birds flying.

Mrs. Krauss loved the poem and said it was perhaps the best poem she had received from a student. She said that she even read it to the principal and other faculty during a meeting.

I didn't think all the praise was particularly merited. Maybe in comparison to other 5th grade level poems, but still I did not expect it to get that much praise. Even back then, the line "nobody should be crying" did not sit well with me. After all, just because the weather is nice doesn't mean tragedies can't occur.

"Sorry about your family exploding in a blimp collision, Mr. Johanson, but hey, look outside--the sun is shining in the sky!"
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I thought about this for a while and then went back inside. The cleaning woman who I was supposed to drive to the bus stop had already left, presumably on foot. I would have driven her.