Memorial Day weekend not only marks the unofficial beginning of summer but also announces that the end of school will soon arrive if it hasn’t already done so. My youngest son will still be in pre-K next year, but he’s so excited that in the fall he’ll finally be at the same school as his brother, who just finished first grade. My wife and I are grateful that both of them love school. Yet, like most kids, they’re really excited about the freedom to play outside and in our community pools during the summertime. That freedom to play develops and nurtures a creative imagination.

The end of school is this week’s haiku theme. You can write your short poem about college or professional degrees, receiving a high school diploma, the transition from elementary school to middle school, excitement about — or perhaps a dread of — summer camp, the freedom to play, the non-freedom of a new job, etc. All you have to do is to put your thoughts into one verse with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, and five syllables in the third line. Here’s mine:

As school days wind down,
“What are we going to do?”
fills kids’ and moms’ minds.