We were right on time for Pearl
and right on time for school.
Mr. Campanelli was at the door of the classroom,
waiting for us, smiling,
with his green-and-blue checked shirt
and his shorter hair
that was not so crazy.
And all my friends were back.
Nora had made necklaces for me and Pearl.
Katie ran up and hugged me.
Adam gave me some gum.
“Let’s start the day with some drawing,”
Mr. Campanelli said.
So I sat at a table with Pearl
and Katie and Nora.
And we did some drawing.
Then Mr. Campanelli read us poems
and asked us to write poems of our own.
“Please start your poem
with the words, ‘Love Is,’”
he said.
“Think about how you know you love someone
or how you know someone loves you.
And write that down.
Ask me any questions you want.
And don’t worry about this a bit.
It’s our very first day, after all.
We’re just getting warmed up.”
And I did some thinking.
Then I wrote my poem.
I wrote:
Soon Mr. Campanelli walked around the room
and checked our work.
“An excellent job,” he said, when he read my poem.
“But you’re making me thirsty!”
He didn’t say anything about my handwriting.
So I guess it was fine.
And I thought
The rest of the day went very fast.
Soon Natalie was there to pick me up.
“Here,” I said, when she came in.
“This is for you.”
I handed her one of the pictures I had drawn earlier.
A picture of flowers
in a little garden
just off a sidewalk.
“I love it,” Natalie said.
“It’s perfect. Thank you.”
Then Pearl came over.
I didn’t want her to say anything about Bibi.
And she didn’t.
Instead she said to Natalie,
“You have the most beautiful hair
I have ever seen.”
She ran her hand over her ponytail.
“Thanks.”
Then Natalie smiled at Pearl
and Pearl smiled at Natalie.
And I felt happy.
