the way forward obscured

 

the bond stretched

with distance learning

the bond between teacher and student is stretched,

as are the bonds between student and student,

as is the bond between student and fully-functioning learning,

the way forward has become harder to see 

for teacher and student alike,

as if clear air has been replaced by haze,

like the fog on eyeglasses above ubiquitous masks,

those masks which protect the body

and block clarity in the spoken word,

I compare it all to having to wear mittens

and still work to hold the pen and write,

there just is more weight added to the shell

students and teachers need to break through,

to get back to whole-hearted learning,

teaching in person, 

I can almost see the possibilities behind the eyes

and venture way after way 

to help the student find way after way 

to blossom into assertive sureness,

even then it is an effort to read where they are, who they are,

a prodigious effort to craft a community of learners,

I feel for how hard it is for them 

to find the ways to move forward,

to risk venturing forth,

taking such a risk comes even harder these days,

too many can find it safer to not venture an opinion in a discussion,

to not share an essay, a story, a poem, an idea,

this time of distance learning and Zoom 

and masks and social distancing

obscures the way forward.

by Henry H. Walker

December 1, ‘20