obliged to answer

I answer the calling

I think education is a “calling”

far more than it is a job,

for me, it’s the spirit that infuses the universe

that calls us to connect, to resist dissolution,

that calls us to make our school 

a place where each student

can birth their best self,

the spirit, the soul, of each student

calls out to be seen, to be valued,

to be helped to come into the power

that the universe hopes will be the birthright of all,

I still hear a calling from students I don’t yet know,

and I feel obliged to answer as long as I can.

by Henry H. Walker

October 9, ‘17