Ms Arthur said
at her last school
in the city
they didn’t have
snakes in the playground
or children jumping off sheds
trying to fly.
She said
they didn’t have summer storms
that threatened to wash away the town
or students who yelled and saluted
in answer to roll call
and they didn’t have
butterfly swarms
or days so windy and hot
it was like teaching in an oven
and she didn’t remember her city school
having a ghost house nearby
and the children swam in a heated pool
not in the river
and her last school didn’t have
an old-fashioned bell
and the children at that school
didn’t know everyone
who lived within ten kilometres
and then she stopped talking
and smiled . . .
at the end of the day
Ms Arthur told us
she was going to apply
to stay at our school
for another year
at least!