"All My Friends are Millionaires"
Perhaps I was too busy teaching school
as they buzzed about the latest action-packed movie,
the trendiest restaurant, the new neighborhood going up
across town.
Perhaps I missed the lines of inheritance,
meeting with silent investors, or being in the right places
at the right times.
Instead, I hovered over throngs of teenagers,
crushing up chicken livers in the lab, making glue
and crude paint from kudzu leaves, discovering
why dog shit turns white in the sun.
I coached tennis till the sun sank below the tree line
on the side of the pine forest, transferred sweaty bodies
full of angst to math & science tournaments, from debates
about bio-engineered foods, and met a million parents
who worried that their babies were growing up
way too fast.
In three short decades I missed the money,
the secret conversations about how it grows on trees
in meticulous backyards. Instead, we clipped the leaves
and made a paste of fertilizer for planting seeds
whose value hasn't been determined.
JD--You captured the richness of the teaching life. I don't know if you know Byrd Baylor's picture book, "The Table Where Rich People Sit," but it cleverly outlines how rich life can be, even when the riches aren't monetary.
ReplyDeleteI was working on a limerick for my blog. (It's still unfinished.) Since sometimes my students hunt for me on the internet, I don't like to include anything that is controversial, so you can fill in the word that goes in the blank yourself ;)
Teaching is the best job I know
(Though it doesn’t pay much dough)
The rewards–so rich
(Though sometimes I ____)
Teaching IS the best job around--in my opinion.
No, I haven't heard of that book, but I'll try to locate a copy. It really is true, though. I missed out on a lot of "stuff," it seems, but that's okay. I had a joyful career and still communicate with my kids. I have invitations to come to Australia to stay in homes, to other places not quite as exotic.
DeleteLooking back, I SHOULD have been more proactive in making things happen financially, such as learning how to flip houses. Oh well......
I say you've spent your time doing all of the right things. This one is a real beauty, friend!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tracy.
DeleteJD--If I can find my copy, I'll bring it to the writing retreat so you can read it.
ReplyDeleteThe truth and profanity of this line speaks to me and made me laugh: "discovering why dog shit turns white in the sun". It truly characterizes the labor of love that is teaching. Well, at least the labor part; but I'd argue it also encapsulates the love we feel in the trenches, "in the shit" as Tim O'Brien wrote, and that kind of love and nurturing and camaraderie is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Caroline. I was deep in da doo-doo on so many days. But I knew that's what my students needed and wanted. And it's okay if I end up in a state-owned facility if my students will come visit me. :)
Delete