A little research reveals she is nearly <br />One hundred fifteen years of age, born in New York <br /> <br />She was… eight beautiful and dainty turned legs <br />Support her solid black walnut continence <br /> <br />Her original owner liked to cross his right leg <br />His boots scarred her lower left inside drawer supports <br /> <br />I discovered her outside under another <br />Old desk, both stored under an old tarp, mud and <br /> <br />Spiders along with a bird’s nest liberally <br />Housing themselves in every nook and cranny <br /> <br />Her once magnificent finish now bubbled <br />Scarred with her learned songs and time-worn history <br /> <br />I wonder did she once assist with Latin lessons <br />Or with a young student’s finest penned flourishes <br /> <br />Did she give the gift of wanderlust? <br />As she taught about the Galapagos <br /> <br />A little gel stripper proved she cleans up well <br />A clear of coat min-wax restored her lovely rosy glow <br /> <br />Oh her long journey’s scars remain under <br />Her new redo, but she does stand stoically proud and renewed <br /> <br />In purpose, begging off on a good re- <br />Sanding …lecturing wittily on an important and wise life lesson <br /> <br />We all fall prey to predatory wrinkles and faded <br />Exteriors, even our very souls are scoffed <br /> <br />Yet our heart cores are still tenderly sheltered <br />Deep within, and those old pulls are actually <br /> <br />Copper-ey bronze and filled with redheaded determined grit <br />To stay on task, a job description now transformed <br /> <br />From those old drawers come lessons in molecular biology <br />Anatomy and physiology, the healing arts are now her newer gifts <br /> <br /> <br />(Refinishing Life, Tennessee,18 May 2007)<br /><br />Debora Short<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-teacher-s-desk-edited/
