BEFORE TODAY

I jogged every day.

twenty miles all the way.

The road rough with stones.

That punished painfully than Mr. Jones.

eight miles an hour I travelled.

Stopping to stare at what that marveled.

occasionally loosing track of time.

Hunting hares for a dime.

 

Late I arrived always.

But dodged the master in many ways.

First day through the fence.

Next faked reasons for my absence.

Mr. Jones was still new.

The only teacher we ever knew.

And school was only for the free.

A class of three under an oak tree.

 

No books, no pens, we sat on boulders,

and still learned like the others.