The Girl With Sparkling Eyes

I made a mark beside her name,
Just trying to keep score.
If she keeps talking on, I thought,
She'll earn herself some more.

The teacher came into the room
And then they all piped down.
'Alright, ' she said, 'who talked in class? '
'Who thinks that they're a clown.'

I calmly looked around and smiled,
Expecting to get by.
I thought that since I didn't talk,
I didn't have to lie.

But then the teacher locked on me,
Mistaking my wry smile
For being just a clown in class
And laughing all the while.

'Alright, Greenwolfe, you best stand up, '
She said, as I recall.
And then she grabbed her wooden board
And stood so proud and tall.

She motioned me to come up front
And as I slowly came.
I thought I heard a girl speak out,
'Oh, but what a shame.'

I glanced a look, and then I saw
What made my anger flame.
She sure enjoyed this spectacle,
The girl without a name.

Another girl spoke up and said,
'Another bitch who lies.'
I wondered why she cared so much,
The girl with sparkling eyes.

I hadn't seen her sparkling eyes
Before that fateful day.
Perhaps I was too much a boy
To notice anyway.

When I finally took my spot
Before the teacher's board.
I whispered in the teachers ear,
Sincerely I implored.

The teacher stopped to look at me
With ne'er a blinking eye.
Then said, ' Wait here, and I will see
If you have told a lie.'

She briskly walked back to my desk
And looked at my notebook.
Then slowly she came walking back
With a knowing, special look.

She asked me to explain my code,
I said it was a grid.
The others there were mystified
By everything she did.

'Oh yes, ' she said, ' I understand,
And these are for today? '
And I replied they surely were,
'These boxes are in play.'

The teacher said, ' Alright Greenwolfe,
You may take your seat.'
The teacher rose and took her board,
She never was discreet.

About the time I reached my seat
I heard a plaintive wail.
I turned to look and then I saw
The talker in travail.

The teacher had her by the ear,
I only saw her back.
But I knew well what was to come,
And waited for the whack.

I must say that she struggled well
As devils often do.
But as us fellows know for sure,
There's nothing you can do.

Before too long the board prevailed
And justice, then was done.
I guess I can't remember when
I ever had such fun.

But there's one thing I do recall
And now I recognize.
Twas then, that I first came to love
The girl with sparkling eyes.

GREENWOLFE 1962