Delaware broke teeth and six
minute miles, quite intimidating
with Viola Swamp teaching.
Phelps challenged assumptions,
advanced creativity in all forms, and
embraced failure —
dare to be fully you.
Assaulted by a PE locker while
vertically challenged, Jarrett
proclaimed the divinity of math
and whispered spelling perfection.
Three cheerleader-less sports at
Kickapoo — soccer, baseball, golf —
a first crush, a first kiss, a
first broken heart, and
Mr. Nichols’ wisdom,
“You have a way with words.
Never stop writing.”
Southwest Missouri State University
always, proudly, two directions
encouraged sidewalk skating,
shrink-wrap pranks, table tennis educations,
and introduced me to my wife.
