Teaching is not for the selfish
nor those who have a jealous streak.
Teachers are not bullies
nor are they anger and flame.
We teach because it is our calling.
We teach because it fills us with song.
We teach because it is our passion
like collecting stamps,
listening to music,
a long walk in the park with someone we love.
We teach because it makes us dance,
fills us with joy, makes us whole.
(Have you ever seen a smile on the face of a child?)
Why do we teach?
We teach because we are selfish—
we teach because we must.
To offer the gift of knowledge,
assist someone in finding an opportunity for every possibility,
to show a tree and discover a forest,
to find a butterfly, a rainbow,
a prism of color, a prism to self,
the human experience over and over and over again
and bring it to life
and help it develop
and watch it grow—
this is why we teach.
_______________
From my 2011 collection, I Was a Teacher Once & Other Philosophies, published by Ten Pages Press
| Copyright © 2022 by Michael H. Brownstein Michael H. Brownstein’s volumes of poetry, A Slipknot Into Somewhere Else and How Do We Create Love?, were published by Cholla Needles Press in 2018 & 2019, respectively. |
I hereby nominate this poem to become the credo, the anthem, of the International Teachers Association!
ReplyDelete