The Teacher

My students
They haunt me.

They line up by the side
of my desk in the classroom
as I remove my grade book,
the text, my pen;

They meet me in the halls,
They merge into my office,
They wait for me by my car,
They leave me messages.

Thais is what they tell me:

My computer broke down,
My grandmother died,
My husband was just released
from jail and is trying
to murder me.

I'm in the school play,
I'm pregnant and I'm spotting,
I have lupus,
I need this course to graduate.

I had to work late,
I was in court,
My roommate is having
a baby and she had no one
else to be with her,
I just had an abortion.

And I
listen
to what
I don't
want to hear;

The messiness
of their lives
happening.
I believe
each story--

I have to--

These are my students
This is the way they learn.

(c)Sharon Weinstein

from Celebrating Absences, Road Publishers 1995