getting there

the red and green sugar
has been swept off the floor.
red hots that melted
in a puddle of sugar cookie frosting
have been scraped from the
desktops.

"maria and jose'"
asked for shelter as we
went from one classroom to another,
passing out treats and singing
"o pueblecito de belen"
in little excited voices,
knowing that our posada would end
in the demolition of our carefully packed pinata.

our interview questions for the january webcam meeting
of the second-grade esl students in texas
wait in a pile on my desk for our return:

"do you really put your shoes outside for the three wise men to fill?"
"aren't you afraid someone will steal your shoes?"
"do you celebrate las posadas?"
"where do you sleep?"
"do you celebrate our lady of guadalupe like we read in the books?"

grades have been recorded and
our stained-glass windows have been taken down.

i will spend the next three weeks of this session break
building on the hope that we will learn to take care of each other.
someday.
i will reflect and research and pull on every creative resource i can
to make next session better than any winter session ever.
i will remember how far we have already come
as i see each shortie's face in my dreams.