Old School House

OLD SCHOOL HOUSE

Two overcrowded school rooms
With wooden floors.
And a potbellied stove in
Centre of it all.
Behind the teacher’s desk
A blackboard
That covered the wall.

Chalk dust floating in the air.
Old stove with its belly red.
A buzzing sound from all the class
That went ‘round and ‘round in my head.

Laughter, reading, poetry being recited.
Smell of wet mittens by the stove.
Scrape of chalk on the blackboard
As for higher learning we strove.

Recess, and silly games
Played out on the old school ground.
Girls singing rhyming games
As they whirled round and round.

High windows reflecting back
Lamplight in the early fall.
Watching the sky eagerly
For the first snowflake to fall.

Lost Endeavours and Prester John,
Books we just had to read.
And always in the class someone
willing to take the lead.
First year Latin, second year Latin
And Caesar’s Gallic Wars.
Twisting the tongue around Latin verbs
And conjunctions by the score.

The smell of chalk and pencil shavings
Mixed with the dust from the wooden floor
And the cold breeze around your legs
When ever someone opened the door.

Oft times my mind takes me back
To the old school house
And the fun it used to be.
St. Savior’s  school will always be
A fond memory to me.