The Star Polisher
by Leah Becks
I have a great job in the universe of occupations. What do I do? I'm a "star polisher."
It's a very important job. If you want to know how important,
just go out at night and look at the stars twinkling and sparkling.
You see, I'm a teacher.
The stars are the children in my class.
My job is to take them in - in whatever shape they come -
and shine and buff them and then send them out to take their places
as bright little twinkling beacons in the sky.
They come into my room in all shapes and sizes.
Sometimes they're bent, tarnished, dirty, crinkly and broken.
Some stars are cuddly, soft and sweet.
Some stars are prickly and thorny.
As I buff, polish, train and teach my little stars,
I tell them that the world cannot do without them.
I tell them they can do anything they set their minds to do.
I tell them they can be the brightest, shiniest stars in the sky
and the world will be a better place because of them.
Each night as I look at the sky, I'm reminded of my
very important job and awesome responsibility.
I go and get my soft buffing cloth
and my bottle of polish in preparation for tomorrow
and for my class of little stars.