Sunny Day at School
The sun showed up early this morning,
strong and certain across the southern lot.
It’s been gray for weeks,
and now everything feels louder, warmer,
brighter…
The kids felt it before the rest of us did.
Bouncing in before the bell,
shirts untucked, cheeks pink,
talking fast, laughing faster.
They haven't seen the sun in a while,
and today, it showed up like a promise.
Inside, things are holding together—
mostly.
Teachers with rolled-up sleeves,
fans humming even though it’s April.
Someone’s crying in the hallway,
someone else is running.
It’s that kind of day.
I open my window a crack.
It smells like warm dirt and
the cows in the neighbor’s field.
Birdsong fights with the buzz of the copier.
I let it.
We’re all feeling it—
the shift, the stretch,
like the whole building is exhaling.
I’ll circulate through classrooms,
check the lunchroom and playground,
and review the important data.
But mostly,
I’ll let the sun do what it does best—
wake us up again.