I Am Grading Papers

I am grading papers

       “What? Already?” you may ask.

I am grading papers

         ‘Cause the summer didn’t last.

I am grading papers

            Which I collected on Day 3

I am grading papers

            Like a robot chimpanzee

I am grading papers

            Tho’ the pool towels aren’t dry

I am grading papers

            Smelling sunscreen from July

I am grading papers

            Tho’ it’s very clear to see

My heart just isn’t in it

            It’s yearning to be free

I am grading papers

       With the fortitude of snails

I am grading papers

       And it feels like I’m in jail

I am grading papers

            To mark the next ten months of gloom

I am grading papers

            With an increasing sense of doom

I am grading papers

            I’ve reached the middle of my stack

I am grading papers

            Wait: Here’s one the others lacked.

I am grading papers

            And in the dark mine I’ve found

A preposterous gem of brilliance

            Well-written, well-crowned!

I guess I am grading papers

           To remind me constantly

That God is in the details

            Awaiting my discovery.

So I will grade my papers

            With the fortitude of a saint

I hereby mark the end of summer

            And the end of my complaint.