School Supplies

You know the summer’s over
When you see before your eyes,
Ads in all the papers
Advertising school supplies.

Get your notebooks! Paper! Pens!
Book bags! Markers! Tape!
Everywhere you look,
You are bombarded - no escape!

Be the first one in your class
To fill your teacher’s list!
If it feels too early,
All your doubts should be dismissed.

‘Cause once the stores have school supplies,
The summer’s at an end.
Since it’s hot as blazes still,
It’s hard to comprehend.

Advertisers like to move things up,
But I remember
Years ago, when Christmas lights
Were put up in December.

And school supplies were not on sale
‘Til close to Labor Day.
We cherished the illusion
That real life was far away.

But now we have a short reprieve
And then it’s time to plan
For getting back into the groove –
Forget about your tan.

I’m not a student any more
And do not even teach,
Yet ads for school supplies
Can leave me yearning for the beach!