Administrator
Seven-thirty summer morning
sweating and rumpled
the red-faced man
struggles up the sidewalk
two boxes stacked up
his arms splayed wide to hold them
he goes stutter-stepping swaybacked
radiating the kind of cheerful
where carrying too-heavy boxes
on a sultry morning
is just a minor inconvenience
5/30/19
Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That? 
Ah! Management putting up a good front – know it well.
I based this poem on a guy I saw, and what struck me was, despite all the struggling in the hot weather, he really did look cheerful about it all. That has stayed with me.
Perhaps the contents of the boxes was what was cheering him and making him feel as if all the effort was worthwhile.
I like that idea. They are badly needed supplies. Or books he can’t wait to read. Or lots of art supplies he will hand out to students and also get to use them himself. It’s really nice to think of all the scenarios.