Doing Everything in Love

i feel utterly defeated
as i sit hunched over
staring out over empty desks
broken pencils and scraps of paper strewn across the floor
the remnants of just another day
a construction paper crown and battle axe
lay dormant on the shelf
waiting for their moment of glory
where a giddy student will wield it over
another’s neck, preparing to slice off her head
in a “reader’s theater” moment,
pretending she has the courage of a
knight of the round table to slay the green giant
who has interrupted king arthur’s feast

and even though a rambunctious boy
who barely gets by reading anything
yelled out today in class
“who knew poetry could be so fun?!”
(which warmed my heart and
made me remember just why *WHY* i teach)
i’m  now left wondering,
(deflated after our standardized testing meeting)
will he make “adequate yearly progress”
will he understand what a literary device is
and be able to choose
which sentence from the essay illustrates
the characteristic the author appreciates most about his father
(does he even have a father?)
this boy whose nails are perpetually dirty
who wears the same clothes all the time
and who today wrote a poem about the
“anger that lives inside his body”
will
he
pass
and have i done everything that i
possibly can

readers, what can you infer from this
author’s perspective