What I Carry

In our weekly faculty meetings, we often spend the first ten minutes writing together. Someone will bring a prompt, usually a piece of published writing (poem, book excerpt, children's book).
Yesterday, a fellow teacher read to us an excerpt from a book called The Things They Carried which is about the war in Vietnam. The passage had to do with the things the soldiers carried, both physical and emotional.
The prompt was this: What do we carry (as teachers, people, parents, etc.)?
Here is my response, unedited. I found it such an intriguing question. I think I may want to spend more time thinking and writing about this soon.

What do I carry?
I carry children, lunch boxes, school bags
File folders, papers, paper clips
Lip gloss, legos, tiny swords
Pennies, lots of quarters (oh please let me have quarters!)
Water bottles, cleats, sticks, rocks, shells
Crumbled leaves
Candy wrappers, lollipop sticks
Apple cores
Science projects
Shoes, newspapers
Worries
Prayers
Thanksgiving and gratitude
Children's questions, a few answers
Calvin and Hobbes, Tintin books
Markers, socks
Bewilderment
Hope
Wonder
The true light that lighteth every man