Hunched over his desk eyes darting to empty chairs,
dented globe, plants drying in the sun
surveying the room where year after year he’s spent so many hours,
so many days.
Probing the desk drawers
he rediscovers decades of lessons
yellowed like biblical scrolls,
thank you notes from grateful parents,
an engraved and tarnished pen.
He cups his head in his hand
removes his glasses and stows his treasures in a cardboard box.
Shuffling toward the door
he contemplates the chalk batons
he’ll wield no more.
Colossi is a resident of East Windsor, and is a member of the Twin Rivers Writers’ Group.
