"JUST, A MUSIC TEACHER"
 by Raye McDonald 

 
I look up at the mantle clock and see it is almost four,
         and then I hear my student Joe, as he walks
                          through the door.

He quickly runs toward the couch and plops himself right down.
    He shuffles through his music bag and then begins to frown.

"I can't find my lesson book, or my assignment sheet, and by the
       way, we won our game and isn't that just neat?"

He starts to play a little song that he has all memorized, but then
         he stops and looks at me through twinkling big brown eyes.

"Oh, by the way, we got a dog, and mama named him Kyle."
        and then I know I'm going to hear about that puppy
                             for a while.

"I think we'd better play our scales," I tell my little guy,
     "But I forgot the fingerings," and then he starts
                             to cry.

I look up at the clock again and it's fifteen after five,
       and then I hear the door again and Macy
                        has arrived.

"Mom was late to pick me up and I hope that you're not
     mad.  This has been an awful day and our whole
                   school is very sad".

And so, she tells me all of it from the beginning until the end.
       It seems there was a car wreck and Macy lost her
                                   friend.

We try to get some work done and it doesn't go too well,
        She simply cannot concentrate, a fact, we both
                                    can tell.

I'm just a music teacher and today I've heard from two.
                An inward voice within me speaks,
                     "That is part of what you do."