Old Lady Hindsight, Retiring

by Laurie Coker

Hindsight is the only teacher
who could ever teach me anything.
I struggled through all the phases of my life
when I should have been studying, learning, applying myself,
only to be able to breathe a sigh of relief
when the course was over
and the grades were in the mail.

C+ in Courtship
D, D- and F in Marriage 101, 2 and 3.
A+ in Pregnancy, Labor and Delivery,
A- in Early Infant Care
B+ in Early Childhood Development
C in Child Rearing Ages 8-12
F in Teen Parenting
D- in Economics
D, C+ and A in Survivival Skills 101, 2 and 3.
Incomplete in Time management

She liked to not graduated a-tall. Well, at least she got the paper sayin' she went, my mother sighed resignedly under her breath after she'd paid off all my student loans.

But now all my teachers have bit the dust, even old lady Hindsight, retiring, and I am not sure I can keep up without her.
At least with her I felt like I'd earned something more than a Certificate of Completion.

Now I'm just a little old gray-haired lady sitting in the back of my grandpa's wagon watching the storms I've straddled disappear down the road behind us and everytime I feel that teacher nudging me to notice something new
I can hear my Grandpa poppin' the reins and yellin' out "Git up, Mule!"