whose intention?

Here's a poem that combines teaching and the woods.
Hope it works for you.


ways in the woods


I imagine the growing up years as a trackless wood
through which each young person moves,
sometimes in old growth,
the way clear,
each possible path a way to the wonderful,
sometimes there’s been a fall,
brambles abound,
any way forward feels stymied
and getting nowhere seems a good option,

as a teacher I feel most ready to be companion
as the student finds a way,
I have a gift to see the path
and where it can lead,
and my work is to reinforce their better inclinations
so that each can feel even more confidence
that their way has a rightness,
and that around a bend ahead is another wonder,

intentionality versus the hands-off in teaching intrigues me,
I seek to learn how colleagues in earlier sections of the wood
can be so purposeful, so intentional as guides,

I want to know as much as possible
of the whole wood through which a person can travel,
then as my students explore
I judge how much to be companion
and how much to be guide,


life is a trackless wood
until each of us makes a way.











by Henry Walker
March 27, ‘09