Fate
ocurrirán
cosas malas.
Bad
things will happen
Your
favorite students will call
you
derogative terms in a language
that you
partially know. Your alarm
will go
off and you will set it for thirty
minutes
later. You will start your pot
of
coffee and forget to fill your cup.
You
broke up with your girlfriend or boyfriend
and
she/he will come after you for
two
hundred dollars because your
friend
broke her/his guitar hero drum set.
You will
forget your belt and your fly
is
unzipped when you come out of the bathroom.
You meet
with a friend for a drink. Or two. Or three.
Or you
will get sick and lay in bed—or decide
your
health can wait. Another pot of coffee
left behind.
Breakfast
will become absent as you are
getting
the days presentations and activities
ready.
Your favorite student will go back to
jail
because he can’t handle school and it’s demands.
Another
one of your favorites will get
kicked
out of his foster home and move to another state.
You will
over plan—you will under plan.
Your
pipes will freeze and your blood will boil
when a
student asks you what the assignment is about
when you
have explained it thoroughly. Twice.
There is
an ancient greek myth about a father
Who is
betrayed by his son. Fate had bestowed
This
betrayal. The son will kill his father
And
eventually marry his mother. Fate had
made
Him a
king and a hero. King Oedipus
Will
follow fate and this makes him a hero.
He
gouged his eyes out and wandered in embarrassment.
So
here’s the light in the blindness of life, the token
of
epiphany that leaves you dumbfounded.
Your
pedagogy will be questioned and tested. You will
go to
Vegas and spend your grocery money
for the
next few weeks. You will forget your
phone charger,
and
phone in your hotel. You will break down in the middle
of a
lesson that your building principal observes
but he
pulls you aside and reminds you
“We as educators
are not super human
and sometimes
we just let fate run its course,
just don’t
kill your father and sleep with your mother.”
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your idea that "“We as educators are not super human and sometimes we just let fate run its course, just don’t kill your father and sleep with your mother.” Not only did I find it extremely funny; I think it also serves as a good reminder of the fact that we may be teachers, but we have our limits. Sometimes, and this is something I have seen time and time again in my student teaching experiences with my CT, the best thing we can do is just sit back, relax, and let things, as you most aptly put it, "run it's course." I am curious though: do you have any ways of reminding yourself to take a breather when you need it? I am curious, and would love to hear of any ideas you have about this. Excellent poem, Mr. Slattery, and I look forward to reading more from you in the near future!
ReplyDeleteLater
I really like the line about the pipes freezing and the blood boiling. I also like the mention of Oedipus. It really makes it clear that our problems could be considerably worse. We are definitely human, and we learn during class just like our students.
ReplyDelete