Ode to Kelly McMichael

A Poem by Derek Thiem

A poem for a friend and fellow teacher

She’s all red curls

And metaphors.

She’s similes crushed

With mortar and pestle

To release their fragrance.

She is the sunrise smile

Of an Autumn morning.

She is the guider

Of the River Averyl,

Leading her through

Curves and switchbacks,

A cartographer

Of her geography,

And guiding her

Gently to the sea.

She is Earth Mother

And Goddess of the Sky.

She has the quick feet

Of a prairie bunny

Running through the brush.

She is taxi

And cook

And waitress

And maid

And police woman

And fire fighter

And songstress

And poet

But most of all,

She is teacher.

She is guru

She is sage

She is an actress

On a stage

Front of an audience

Of students

Who lean forward

Almost imperceptibly

Toward the whisper

Of her words of wisdom.

She is instructor

In the deadly arts

Of grammar and syntax,

The artistry of punctuation.

She develops plots

For lessons,

Each teaching moment

A new character,

The rising action

Of the lesson

Coming to life

In a fury

Of multicolored

Whiteboard markings

Made with architectural

Precision.

The lesson

Reaches its climax

Of what the f**k the students

Are actually supposed to learn

From this

Then descends

Through the falling action of

Checking for understanding

And the eventual

Resolution

Of homework assigned.

She goes through

These motions

With style and grace

While balancing state standards

On her head.

And then,

She differentiates

Just to show that she can,

No, wait a minute.

It’s not showing off.

It’s that student.

The one who didn’t get it.

She reaches her arms out

And gently says

Come

I will show you.

© 2017 Derek Thiem

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Featured Review

Annette Pisano-Higley

What a stunning and eloquent poetic tribute to this teacher/Superwoman! Great style in couplets and multiple staccato lines that propel the reader through her attributes, accomplishments, qualities and teaching process. At the conclusion, her greatest quality is her ability to say "Come..I will show you." Excellent and very moving. Kudos!