two alums? too cool. . .

 

to see, to appreciate, to help?

somehow I am gifted

to see the fullness of self in kids,

never as clearly as it deserves to be seen,

but enough to feel a solidarity with the self

yearning to be seen, to be appreciated,

to find the help to make it through

the gauntlet of self-doubt,

through the tracklessness of the thickets

that seem to materialize from out of nowhere

from within, from family, from the culture,

even from the peers who could be friends,

I see the glass filling

and I don’t slow down the filling

by noticing and commenting on what’s missing,

a person in touch with the best of themselves

can fix what needs to be fixed

and mostly just needs the support

of another’s belief in them to believe in themselves,

I spend my day with middle school students

who think, who read, who write with impressive power,

who get better and better when the way opens,

I spend this evening with two former students

from the first decade of my teaching,

each is a wonder,

each makes a difference in their world, in the world,

each is still working as hard as they did decades ago,

challenge still materializes all about them:

the physical, with those they love,

with whatever battles they are fighting

I don’t even know about,

yet each is as wonderful now

as was the middle schooler I knew decades ago,

we all need to be loved,

and then the thickets dissipate,

the way forward can clear,

these two incredible women continue to release

the best of themselves upon the world.

by Henry H. Walker

October 25, ‘21