Teachers make a hole.
A soft curve in gray matter
A crack where the light shines
A seed for germination.
They open their eyes
Kick open imagination
Show us
Encourage change of mind
And change of heart
Not forced to walk a single path
But Revelation is for many.
Teachers create and form
They are weaving through the limitations of their vision
Student making and welding.
Teachers celebrate
Teachers conquer hatred and nurture expectations
Teachers shed light
Where darkness lives
Make chrysanthemums from wild flower seeds,
Long stalks and fragile flowers explode within their reach.
They make statements that are long lasting even after the lessons have been exploited. Like Mrs. Tucker who wrote, “Amy is like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day” on my first class report card,
Teachers bring in dreamers and thinkers.
They make us stretch
Wake us up
Realize our sympathy
Feel us
Make us cry
Make us laugh
Help us understand the connection
Thank us.
It’s for Mr. Wilk
Who teaches vocational electronics
Romeo High School in Michigan.
He has helped create a creative mind
Helped craft, cast and find
New interests and ideas, refined
To create new words, indefinite.
Traveling every year like Sisyphus,
Another ride up the hill,
To teach another class,
Another state test for stress tolerance,
Another prom, graduate, repatriation,
Waiting for another break.
There are teachers after so many things
Even when the world thinks you are small.
Mrs. Hani did not do it for money.
He saw that I had a chance,
I can be president even with dyslexia.
You see, teachers make bad days better
Make the journey as meaningful as the destination
Make reading fruitful
Suffer well
The teachers decide.
About 1,500 per day.
What to say, how to say, when
Teachers love
Out of everything
Teachers make me feel special
As I am safe
Teachers make sense
The eighth note is a noise and
Then quarter notes
And a spot of dark chords
They make songs.
The day he died, not only I, but the whole school cried, “That’s why I graduated,” “That’s why I ate lunch,” “When my own father ran away, he helped me a lot,” they said. Passing by, endless reminders of his touch in their lives
Teachers are nothing but students
Such as the fieldless farmer
A mind rich in knowledge
A teacher is nothing if their power is taken away
Such as train when fuel is empty
Sensor and inactive
We came here because teachers make students
The glorious tree of possibility from the seedling.
They make us complete.
They make an impression
Subtle hands that make themselves available
To guide us in this path of misery
And wonder
The teachers left the door open for us
But when the last bell rings
When the classroom is locked
Who will clean all the desks?
Mathematics worksheet
Missing LEGO,
A goldfish cracker
Paper clips and shattered posts যা which say “I love you!”
Pencil boxes and old erasers,
A Pokemon Card (Cramorent)
Empty glue stick,
Dusty Harry Potter masks.
Dirty-smudged backpack?
At the end of the day
Who will help the teachers to take the next preparation
Who will build a house for a heavy heart,
For the saints who can’t stop thinking about those 19 desks,
ঐ 19 backpack
Those 19 summer vacations,
Those 19 new pairs of sandals.
Those 19 next school years and beyond
And after that and after that.
Teachers don’t let us down
They help us find them
They help us find ourselves
Just breathe and be kind to the children
Their mantra –
Who will hold them in the arms of kindness and care?
When the world is not so beautiful
When summer burns red
When there are no more children
To be kind
I say, let it be us.
Because it’s a matter of teachers.
The poetry of this community has been compiled by:
Meg Frost, Mapleton, UT
Patricia Stevenson, Shaker Heights, OH
Matthew Monte, Houghton, MI
James Fromm, Danwoody, GA
Amy Walter-Peterson, Victor, NY
Ben Ark, Louisville, KY
Alexander Simanovsky, Charleston, SC
Lacey Rich, Macon, GA
Sarah Coleric, Seattle, WA
Carol Sadevasar, Parma, OH
John Douglas, St. Louis, MO
Eileen Hennessy, Joelton, TN
Aaron Bowen, Morristown, TN
Shelley Solaris, Bloomfield, MI
Ron Meyers, New York, NY
Bhavya Reddy, Green Brook NJ
Maddie Radcliffe, Omaha, NE
John Linder, Jr., Brooklyn, NY
Tim Josephus, Greensboro, NC
Karen Sherlock, Boulder, CO
Jit Chadda, St. Louis, MO
Beverly Peterson, Williamsburg, VA
Robert Warden, Brian, TX
Chelsea Howe, Sonora, CA.
Matthew Friday, Bend, or
Marina Wrightman, Fresno, CA.
Morgan Dean, Outer Banks NC
George Asdale, Atascadero, CA.
Sonia Zawarski, St. Paul, MN
Cheryl White Dear, Peabody, MA
Sarah Kern, Cumberland, ME
Richard Taylor-Kenny, Sherwood, or
Jane Nails, Las Vegas, NV
The audio story is produced and edited by Jibika Verma and Reena Advani. Reena Advani and Reena Torchinsky adapted it for the web.
