Wild Geese and Other Animals

My meanest boy recited a poem for me today. Sure, it was for the 10 reward tickets I'd offered for memorization of "Something Told the Wild Geese," by Rachel Field. But I couldn't help but be hopeful for him, this boy who has earned my distrust with his sneaky snipes and jabs at other students. I couldn't help but to see more potential for good in him today, his voice so soft and tentative, then stronger at the end, and proud.

I made him promise -- promise -- he'd recite it for his mom when he got home. And that he'd keep it memorized, so that a long time from now, on some crisp fall day, those words will find him, and he'll remember.