Assignment: Now here my journey ends … but also begins …

- Sharika

 

 

Journey

for Sharika & Ericka

and all of the poets of The Care Center, 2000-2008

March 2000, I enter this old house

Here my journey begins

A jumble of paintings on the wall; pregnant girls eating bagels, sipping juices in the hall

Here my journey begins

A totebag full of poems and paper

Here my journey begins

I’ll teach Whitman and Shakespeare, my hopes running high

Here my journey begins

I stand in front of the class, unseeing eyes mirror back

Here my journey begins

I say ‘Here’s some paper, please write a poem”

Here my journey begins

I turn pale as the moon, as the page in my hand

Here my journey begins

My voice quavers. I speak nonetheless

Here my journey begins

Harjo. Whitman. Frost, Piercy and Yeats

Here my journey begins.

Pens hover, pages wait

Here my journey begins

‘Don’t think; your pen knows the way,’

Here my journey begins

‘Write about colors. Describe your mothers. Don’t rhyme. At least five lines … ‘

Here my journey begins

‘Don’t tear that page, you’re breaking my heart’

Here my journey begins

Palms pound desks, doors slam, students stomp out

Here my journey begins

‘Poetry’s boring.’ ‘Poetry sucks.’ ‘Will this be on the GED?’

Here my journey begins

Ink spills, voices crack

Here my journey begins

Stories topple into print

Here my journey begins

‘My brother murdered’ one girl writes; ‘My father passed from AIDS’ A street at night, a girl on the streets, a candle, a room …

Here their journeys begin

‘My baby’s first tooth,’ ‘My love,’ ‘My life,’ ‘My husband,’ ‘My friend’ …

The voices increase, our journeys begin

Eyes fill with tears, our poems fill books

Here our journeys begin

The words dance, the words cry, words crouch, words stir, they soar

Here our journeys begin

My poem is done, theirs just begun

And now my journey must end

‘Teacher goodbye, but first write a poem

Before your new journey begins’

And so our new journeys begin.