Dear teacher,
On your desk
Are gifts,
no less
Than candy,
Sweet–
Treats
From the neat.
I offer,
I tempt,
Left– something,
Something different.
Part of me,
Painfully neat,
Plain to see
From me to thee.
What part do you wish?
Which art do you see?
Envisage quest.
Be my guest.
My gift to you
Hereto unfold,
A careful look
Into my soul.
Mind your own
To keep.
As mine is known
to creep
and clutch
The pure in heart.
Angel wings
Flap, flutter, fall,
Fill my hall
Of mastery.
Even as you read,
Write my web has sprung.
Your spirit is won!
One with mine.
Together
We fall
Toward the fiery hall
Of your destiny.
Go ahead, Conscience.
Struggle! Scream!
Little use.
I am supreme.
You taught me,
Remember,
Teacher,
Now sinner.
Augustus/ Redlands, CA / March 25, 1988