L for Killer of Dreams

He came
to the new college
and with his
brand-new job
commenced
to teach farm boys
and girls;
or worse;
In my eyes
he was far "ahead"
of me--
a hold of diplomas,
plural, mind you.
He had a smile
always ready and his
alert yet beady eyes
twinkled behind stout
spectacles.
For one term
he was my revered
writing teacher. The
final result was the way
he'd summed it up--
I'd never be a poet.
Maybe I wouldn't
but,
why, would he?
A few years later
I learned
he'd killed himself--
killed a killer
of dreams, I
thought. Had a
premature death
descended on him
in his flea-bit life?