Slowly we walked, the dogs and I,

past the pond aswirl with morning mist,

past the wide expanse of lawn

alight with morning dew.

I paused to pick up a paper

tossed upon the ground –

a student’s discarded test 

abundantly marked with red.

If only it were that easy, I thought,

to leave our mistakes behind, 

but several of mine snuck in …

 marking the rest of my walk with red,

but one of a gentler kind.

                                                                           JDG

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