Summer into Autumn

What do school children reap at harvest time?  Summer's end, back to school.  The last letters you don't mean to be the last are addressed to camp friends, stamped and stuck in the mailbox.  The red flag raised, the apples dangling in the trees, the lunch bag packed.  The ruler.  The Elmer's glue.  The nametags on the desks clean, not yet doodled on or peeling off.  Remember the creak of opening your desk?  Remember placing everything just so?  Remember the girls who had more crayons, the right kind of jeans?  Remember the ones who coveted your headband, your panda bear eraser?  Did you smile at the new kid?  Did you glare at the mean kid?  Was your best friend in the wrong class?  Was the boy with cancer back yet?  Did you know you loved the scent of pencil sharpener shavings and the grinding sound of the crank?  Were you aware of the keen rush of relief at recess time?  Were you smack in the middle of the red foursquare ball, the pinching chains of the swings, the freshly painted yellow lines?  Did you stop at lunchtime to be thankful for the peanut butter sandwich in its ziplock bag?  Were you happy or humiliated when you found the heart your mother drew on your napkin?  When did you start counting the days till Friday?  When did you start staring down the clock?  What did you look forward to?  What were you ashamed of?  What instructions did you miss?  On the hot walk home, your new shirt dampens under your crisp backpack bearing rustling forms, notes to parents.  Maybe you're lucky and get picked up and driven to the Dairy Queen for a special dipped cone.  Maybe the city pool is still open for one more week.  Maybe you go down alone to the cool basement with a juice box and plop down in front of Full House.  Maybe you envy your young siblings too little for school yet.  Maybe you wish you had siblings.  Maybe dinner was served on the porch, grilled.  Did you tell your parents about your day?  Did you like your new teacher?  Were you put in the advanced reading group?  Did you remember eight times four?  Did the new gym teacher seem nicer than the old one?  What would you wear tomorrow?  Did you lay out your clothes?  Did you brush your teeth?  Did you pray for something? Was it the thing you really wanted?  When did you start wishing to be a grown up?  When did you stop?  Was there a line you stepped over?  A bell that rang?  Did the wind even rustle the leaves?