Write about the way you feel around us and write at least 10 lines about what you learned about us after being around us for so long. Each line starting with: I learned …

—Idelis

 

In these 8 years I taught at The Care Center …

 

— Maria D.

 

In Eight Years Here I Learned

for Maria D. and Idelis

 

That phat isn’t a weight issue

and hooked up doesn’t have anything to do with connecting telephones, fastening skirts or hanging pictures.

I learned that when a student talks about her ‘moms’ she isn’t commenting on anyone’s sexual preference.

I learned to always assume the best

and that a sneer might be a smile that lost its way.

I learned there are many ways to do things right

and what looks like a mistake can be a saving grace.

I learned to love chaos

a little.

I learned what a fresh tattoo looks like

and the artistic potential in a bottle of nail polish.

I learned about pichones, bochinche and bachata.

I learned not to say “cállate!” in polite company

I learned that a poem written in 20 minutes by a young woman under 20 can go deeper and burn brighter than anything some dead Brit wrote 400 years ago

I learned everyone is a poet, even the girl in the basketball shorts and tank top who loomed over me and growled, “I won’t.”

I learned that no can mean maybe, and maybe can mean please believe that I can.

I learned to talk less and listen more.

I learned that my best teachers were sitting right in front of me.

 

 

— Tzivia