You came back in 1968
from teaching Kenyans
to speak English
to teach Americans
how to see the world.
A nine-year-old boy
was in your fifth-grade class,
precocious, gifted
and quite full of himself
and ignorance.
It was magical, that connection;
the world-wise teacher
and the barely contained
bolt of potential.
It was his only year of school
where he never missed a day
or dropped a class.
Amazing how subtle,
blunt and gentle you were with him,
tapping walls of arrogance
with a wrecking ball,
allowing him to maintain
his structure
while rocking and rebuilding
his foundation.
You saw the boy
who danced on the the tightrope
between genius and insanity...
and quietly fed the jukebox.
He wanted to write;
you gave him Frost and cummings.
He yearned to draw;
you showed him Van Gogh.
He thirsted to learn;
you taught him how
to slake his parched mind.
He left your classroom,
but you continued to teach him.
You still do,
nearly fifty years later.
The last time he saw you,
he hurt you,
in that casual,
caustic way
of the high-school senior.
Still, when his nieces and nephews
with his last name
passed through,
you'd ask them
how he was doing,
and asked them to tell him
to stop in, or call.
He never did,
so he's now reduced
to offering words
you would have loved to read
in their full futility
telling you
that you
are
immortal.
I hope that you've all had at least that one special teacher.