by Luis G. Dato
O the black moment when you parted from
Our place, the sudden unexpectedness,
The prospect of drear days, the emptiness,
The silent school, once like a second home,
Turned into sobbing ones, where small tots come
To miss you only and lost happiness
When you were there their lives to guide and bless,
As they the untried haunts of knowledge roam.
Why had you left them lone, each little boy
And girl who looked up to your counsel kind?
To bitter gloom have turned their hours of joy,
The hot, rash tears their eyes with grief to blind
New books they’ll have, bright dresses, some new toy,
But “Ma’am”, like you, I know they’ll never find.
