Chalk Dust and Goodbyes

The last bell sounded like the first one But nobody's coming back in fall You're peeling borders off the bulletin board August after August, stapled on with hope The marker squeak, the pencil sharpener grinding Thirty Septembers learned to read along this row The chairs are stacked, the chalk dust settles slow But rooms remember more than walls let show Chalk dust and goodbyes — that's how a legend leaves Quiet as a Friday afternoon Every name you ever wrote on that front corner Carried something of you out the door Chalk dust and goodbyes There's a drawer of little notes you never threw out "Thanks for staying after" — pencil, fading gray You knew which kid was hungry, which was hurting And made this room the safest hour of their day The hallway's dark, the summer's coming on But what you built keeps teaching when you're gone Chalk dust and goodbyes — that's how a legend leaves Quiet as a Friday afternoon Every name you ever wrote on that front corner Carried something of you out the door Chalk dust and goodbyes Somewhere tonight a grown-up reads a bedtime story Using the voices that you used They don't recall the tests, the grades, the homework Just the way it felt to be seen by you Chalk dust and goodbyes — that's how a legend leaves Quiet as a Friday afternoon Every name you ever wrote on that front corner Carried something of you out the door Chalk dust and goodbyes Turn the lights off, leave the door unlocked Some things never really stop