Praise Poem

for Traci

the perfume of her labor
permeates the school

subtle as air

invisible hint of love
humbly shared

lingering
before and after bells have ceased to ring

she is
the unknown variable working quietly
behind the curtain of each equation

the thinking space between the words
before the showy sentence takes the credit

a century ago
we would have named her
for her virtues

Faith
or Constance
Patience, to be sure

but here in our small moment
we turn to simpler tools
of many poets

impossible expressions of illimitable love
and blessings on the fortune of her birth