“Sailboats” —a poem for teachers
Like children with toy sailboats,
we launch students into the water.
Carried by the current,
most disappear from view,
their fates obscure.
A few return nostalgically
to find their places taken by
younger, unknown faces,
their teachers preoccupied
with tests, papers, lessons to prepare.
We see their surprise
as they realize that nothing has changed,
but everything has changed.
Pleased, or saddened, or both
by their visits to the past,
they launch back into the waters,
resuming their journeys to
uncharted futures.
—February/March 2025