grading hell heaps upon teachers
like litter languishing underneath the football stadium bleachers
slowly festering
into a stink
making their eyes water into hard blinks
the stench strong enough by the end of the first semester
to make them think
about trashing their professions
but buoyed by the winsome bouquet of students, learning, and lessons
educators recycle past the endless grading transgressions
to become paramount pedagogical creatures
