Big thanks to Karl Fish for recently highlighting these magnificent poets. This one touched my heart most-Enjoy!
Teachers Must
by Joe Mills
North Carolina School of the Arts.
Each fall when the new grapes arrive,
we sift and evaluate them,
trying to determine how best
to help them be what they can be.Some are thin-skinned and delicate,
others gruff and independent.
Some need oak, others stainless steel.No single process works for all,
so first we must identify
the grapes for what they are, not what
we wish they were.We also must
believe that careful attention,
time, and the right environment,
can help develop character,
complexity, balance, and depth.But, most of all, we must have faith
that even when we can’t see them
fundamental transformations
bordering on miraculous
are bubbling under the surface.
