Teachers

There are two statements that I am proud to make: 

first, I am a mom, and secondly (and no less proud), 

 I was a teacher.

Before I taught, like the rest of the uninformed,

I thought it’d be easy; it was talking

in 40 minute bouts, with summers off

and all school holidays. All the kids would be

Like me: motivated, well-behaved, and ready.

No.

There were some, of course, but

Far outnumbered by the ones who

Didn’t care, didn’t want, didn’t have time

For education in any form.

Who were simply serving their sentence:

No structure, no modifiers, no grammar, no rules.

No.

We didn’t teach English, or math, or history, or chemistry.

We taught kids. We taught communities.

We taught living and getting along

And how to slog through the unknown swamps, 

impenetrable forests of expectations, and endless

pursuits of someone else’s standards.

No.

This is our legacy: not certificates

Or degrees, or awards, 

But people—getting through, getting by,

Living their best lives, continuing

To live, and to learn,