She comes to school every day with tears in her eyes Which makes me wonder why But then she sits in her chair, refusing to move Which makes me want to send her home I watch the other kids play And I watch her sit and stare It bothers me so much So I say “Lila, why?” “Why won’t you go play?” “Why won’t you listen?” No response. Hours later, everyone’s gone. She’s gone too. As I pack up, I hear a song I look over to the window Lila is there Singing to a bird And the bird sings back “Beautiful” I say She hears me, and runs away. And vanishes into the oak trees The next day, I itch to tell my students About what a beautiful song I heard As the sun set over the trees Hours later Sunset returns And I hear a roar I gasp as I see Lila roaring at a bear We rarely see bears In our grassy prairie She roars, he roars back “Horrifying” I say She hears me, and runs away. Vanishing into the oak trees Day after day She squeaks, she roars, she stomps And they all do it back And I watch Saying words like “intriguing, wonderful, strong” And each time she hears me She sprints away Vanishing into the oak trees On Friday, I decide to go out there And try myself Once I hear the song I leave my classroom Follow the narrow path leading to the oak trees To find Lila and a stunning blue bird First, she sings and I listen Then I sing Her head swivels around, panicked “Stay” I tell her “I just want to join you.” I sing, she watches Then cautiously joins in We sing together And I get an idea My next science lesson Is all about animals All the kids join in Including Lila It takes her a while I coax her “We have to do it together.” I say Slowly, she joins And works her magic All the kids stare In wonder As she growls Louder than ever At the angry bear She found hidden in the forest I smile And now I know That I’ve done my job💜