dawn breaks upon the faces

A Day of Science

today, clouds hide the sun,
yet I still watch dawn break upon the face of student after student,

first, through the wit and showmanship of our opening guide,








who pulls us to learn about the solar system
and empowers us to get it right,

then as I go around the middle school through door after door,
I find scientist after scientist
who each work to reveal the magic of the science each knows,
and scientist after scientist comes alive within student after student,
who question, experiment, who work to learn the tricks of the trade:
the words, the concepts, the power of the tool to reveal,
if the mind is ready to see the light within,

there’s power in the microscope,



















the potato cannon,













the rocket,














a cardboard roller-coaster,








truth in the roll of the die, in an l.e.d. light,
in cryptography,








in DNA










and on the tundra,








in the bird












and in the baboon,
















in the wiring of the brain












and how to protect ourselves from writing that might catch fire,

we imagine the life of animals in the wild and in a zoo,
and how to preserve the best of us and of them in our practice,













half the students offer postered experiments on the wall
to test the truth of what each imagined might be true,

students then build towers of pasta and structures of newspaper,









and struggle and laugh in the challenges,













as the day ends,we celebrate those who have reached the furthest,
and we joy in how many dawns we’ve seen, even on a cloudy day.

by Henry H. Walker
March 9, ’12