Jeremy
you dressed like Fred MacMurray
complete with cardigan sweaters and pressed pants
in a school in which T-shirts
and blue jeans were haute couture
the piano solo you performed
at an all-school assembly
demonstrated an expertise
that went way beyond
what the other kids were doing
it’s too bad home schooling
or Christian schooling
weren’t options for you
considering your religious
upbringing and all
our school obviously lacked
the faith-based ballast
to steady your way
that is, if the discomfort
you felt in my classroom–
what am I doing here?–
carried over to your other classes
without the devotional guidance
that stablized (or at least influenced)
you life on the outside
you were clearly sailing in troubled water