a master teacher

Robert Bittle

I see his eyes,

and the tears that want to slip away

from the control he wants to live,

I see a master teacher,

whose unbounded care for his students

has been a light, a beacon, for me,

I see a master teacher,

whose skill to create curriculum

is unparalleled in my experience,

whose ability to see the kid,

particularly the kid others of us don’t see so well,

is unparalleled in my experience,

whose ability to help the young person

see herself, see himself, as he sees them,

and to help them rise 

to meet his belief with their reality,

is unparalleled in my experience,

I feel challenged by the genius he has lived as teacher,

I still work to learn from Robert’s example

of how well a teacher can be there

with curriculum, and care, and love,

may each of our students reach

to the heights which call to them.

by Henry H. Walker

January 22, ‘20