Waldorf School Days

kindergarten had the smells
of food dusted in the air
so pungently that if you stuck your tongue out
you could taste the bread baking.

first grade smelled
like chalk dust and new beginnings
and new crayons
that smeared marks onto crisp sheets of paper

second grade hung with the odors
of twenty opinionated kids
and teachers disapproving glances
at my pencil grip

third grade had an aroma like
the sound your heart makes
with a stringed instrument
and mud puddles
from rainy days at the farm

fourth grade scents
were uncertainty
and change filled the air
like a mist on a summer's morning.

fifth grade had a trace
of a spring flower
Short, sweet
and new 
but slightly bittersweet.

sixth grade's fragrance
was that of a sharp knife
and the discoveries of
new freedoms
and friends.

seventh grade was a purfume
of pencil shavings
and broken trust
as words flew like deadly hummingbirds
and life wandering by on tiptoe
Careful not to upset
the fragile peace.

eighth grade was scented like
a poisones boquet
that was pretty to look at
but deadly to smell
like a tornado of words 
that pour onto paper
as I try to write my feelings out
and my friends blow in and out like the tide.

what a wild ride it's been