Emily's First Day

Today is Emily’s first day of school,
“I am a little nervous,” she admitted—
“What if I break a rule?
Is there one that says where I can and cannot sit?”

But what if there’s a rule against standing!?—
“Mommy will be mad if I get into trouble on the first day,”
She thought, “maybe I’ll sit here till the teacher comes in,
And ask if where I’m sitting is okay…”

“Here comes the teacher!—
Ooh, her dress is so pretty…
On it are a bunch of flowers,
And tiny, fuzzy, smiley-face bees!”

“Good morning, class!” she said happily,
“My name is Ms. Beeber—
And I’m not related to Justin…”
“Now’s your turn to introduce yourselves to me,
So I want you to each find a partner—
Learn as much about each other as you can,
Starting when I count to three…”

“One…”

“Two…”

“Three—GO!!”

Emily asked Ms. Beeber if she’d mind where she sat;
Ms. Beeber replied, “No, not at all,”
And, “The fact that you asked me shows respect—
Now, that, young lady, is commendable.”

In the time it took to ask her question,
Everyone found a partner but Emily—
Well, all but one—
And he…looked differently…

The contrast of their features was stark—
So much so that not one similarity could Emily find;
His skin color was so dark,
It looked as though he’d just emerged from a coal mine,
And Emily moved backwards,
As though from the moment she was trying to resign…

She exhorted, “What’s wrong with him!?”
Ms. Beeber has seen this all before,
And on behalf of the children, it’s not for lack of gaum,
For some situations children just can’t be prepared for.

This was one of them…

“Before our bodies are made,” she began,
“Our spirits are made first:
A body is white when its spirit is finished under the sun;
And black when finished under a sky of perse…”

“In other words,” she clarified, “the color of a body
Is determined by the time of day its spirit is made.”

With this new perspective,
Emily looked back at her classmate;
Still somewhat apprehensive,
Unsure of how they could relate…
But she knew the similarities begin where the spirit lives,
That with an open mind, anything can eventuate.

Ms. Beeber suggested they go last,
Since everybody else was ready;
The earlier information was still being processed,
As Emily struggled to find the words to say—
All while her classmate sat, looking suspicious,
As though to her apprehension he was privy—
Yet—mostly for the sake of promptness—
She sat next to him, finally,
“Why did you take so long to sit?” at which time he asked,
“It’s n—,” she stammered, “it’s not you…it’s me…”

—Kevin B. Waring