Beth called the office to share that she loved hearing about Mrs. Pfaff in the recent alumni magazine and that Sara had a huge influence on her, and encouraged her in writing and reading. Beth lives in Northern Wisconsin and has published 3 books of poetry. Her latest, Between the Dog and the Wolf, includes the following poem dedicated to Sara Pfaff.
Dear Mrs. Pfaff
Thank you for ninth grade English,
for calling me Miss Tornes
as you looked fiercely
over the reading glasses
propped on your nose,
for making us read so much
William Carlos Williams,
Emily Dickinson
and J.D. Salinger,
whose books I devoured
at the Bexley Public Library.
Holden, Franny and Zooey’s
eccentricities mirrored my own,
made me feel that I too
belonged to the human race.
Thank you for helping me
slay my darkest dragons
with your ferocious
extra credit reading list.
Thank you for telling me
when I turned in the first essay,
Nice is a garbage word.
You made me find a more precise
adjective. Nice turned into fragile
green sheaths of daffodil blossoms
when we illustrated Wordsworth’s
“I wandered lonely as a cloud.”
Thank you for searing
in my brain forever
the red wheelbarrow
slick with fresh rain
beside the white chickens.
Elizabeth Tornes