** Just One Look Back **

 

Endless uniforms to label

we hope our machines and hands

are working and able

 

Socks and shirts all starchy white

but they won’t stay clean for long

but at least, for tonight

 

Trousers to take up, those flippin hems

then there are the pencil cases

and every type of crazy pen

 

All to name and all to mark

with each new item

it’s a brand-new start

 

Shoes and trainers, bigger each year

potentially predicting the size

of our growing children so dear

 

Early to bed, those protesting to stay up longer fights

a shock to the system

these earlier to bedtime nights

 

Shiny shoes and newly packed rucksacks

forms for form tutors

and they are nearly ready to be despatched

 

The night before a new term starts

it’s rarely easy

holding their hopes and dreams in our hearts

 

We say goodnight and we kiss the air

they nestle down

we hope without worry or unnecessary care

 

At breakfast, they slump over the cereal bowl

feeling ever so grumpy and tired

those poor young souls

 

At drop off time, the conversation is dry

driving in silence

we all know why

 

Off they go, a new coat, new shoes

some meet up in chatty crowds

some slowly single and some in cosy twos

 

One look back, as you drive away

just one look if you are lucky

and it stays with you all-day

 

Parting is never easy from parent and child

whether your little one is easygoing

outgoing, meek or mild

 

But at the end of that school day

there is often relief

as they smile and reassure you

that school is ok and it really isn’t a time thief…

 

Written By Mandy Dineley – My Beautiful Pen