Conventional logic from childhood does not allow for such joy and meaning in a class like this;
I suppose it’s good, then, we’ve set to abandon the old rules.
For admiration and gratitude make up a flood of love,
and love is not romantic nor shameful
but the natural response when our lives are changed so.

Eagerness feeds our tired brain,
writing in bed not because we have to
but because we want to.
She said the other day that ravenousness for learning is part of health.
I wonder how I did not think it myself.
Must be the same way I hadn’t thought about
how grief is a flood of love persevering
even as I have felt it every time I put on one of those dresses
that still smells like perfume
and see in my features
someone else standing there, smiling.

And when has respect not been rare?
When have we not breathed a sigh of relief at a learning environment that spells out safety,
discovered it in our thoughts every time the ground beneath us began to shake
our lip tremble, insecure?

Of course it is natural for us to feel so elated!
The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest
in all the details of daily life.
So it’s no wonder
we walk from class with a cloud of dragonflies lifting our feet
Our notebook and our heart
filled up a little bit more.