meet the teacher / hear about the polished items on the shelf / rather than the hidden dusty ones / their eyes glaze over / I end my presentation, as surface based as the kitchen counter / with a line from my favorite Mary Oliver poem / hoping to spark a little of my soul and theirs / under these fluorescent bulbs / asking them to consider if they are living / and have their eyes open to the paintings in the sky / the way the air tastes at seven in the morning / and to the stories held in a mustard bus / no longer wed to the 8-4 school day / but to the awe of learning / end of slideshow