The Last And

So I'm the first one in again

With the quiet and the window growing snow

When I hear the furnace rouse itself

From its slumber, somehow suddenly I know

As my eye stops on one curled up in my lesson plan

That I'm just your little ampersand

When your voice springs from the intercom

With announcements and reminders and a prayer

I remember how you made me feel

I was funny, I was thoughtful, I was rare

But like the jokes about my figure

Kids think I don't understand

I know I'm just your little ampersand

After Christmas holiday you never asked to drive me home again

Sometimes in the staff room, I'd catch your eye with "why'd it have to end"

But I know from how you worry at your wedding band

That I'm just your little ampersand

The last conjunction after every other and

I was just your little ampersand