Yesterday’s poetics prompt at dVerse Poets Pub celebrated Teachers’ Day in India. Punam challenged us to write a poem about our teacher.
New Poem
Precocious
~from the Latin praecox meaning early ripening
I remember Miss Bernie
who saw me
recognized the need
in a precocious child
and supplied a home-
made packet of extra
work. Not more reading,
not more math,
but art challenges, like
my failed line drawing
that still disappoints
this perfectionist. It
took a long time
to learn how to draw
the image I wanted
without taking
the pen off the page
a skill I now use often.
I’m still precocious
often the youngest
always thinking I’m
at least a year older than I am
But these days I create
my own packets of extra work
and my teacher is the mountain,
the lake, the sky,
eagle, blue heron,
hummingbird, and crow.
They teach me constancy
in constant dramatic change.
They teach me patient wisdom
and durable hope.
They teach me to continue
to soar and circle
to see the light on the waves
in drought or abundance
to stay present
and appreciate.
I enjoyed the first part, but I love the second, a wonderful pivot from a good teacher to the many natural inspirers, wonderful.
Thank you so much, Paul.
I like those teachers you have from nature a lot.
Nicely done Maria 👏 Lessons come from everything if we are still open to learning.
Thank you. And so true.
How beautiful, Maria! May all kids have a Miss Bernie in their lives and continue to learn from the nature around. Loved it.
Thank you, Punam. And thank you for the prompt that got me thinking about my kind teachers.
My pleasure, Maria. The lovely responses have overwhelmed me.
A delightful poem, Maria, and I love your exploration of the word precocious – that’s a word I use for my older grandson, who is also very clever! Those extra challenges from a teacher are essential for gifted children. I like to think of dVerse prompts as extra challenges. Nature is the best teacher, though.
Thank you, Kim. I’m glad you can relate to my poem.
My pleasure, Maria.
Two beautiful stanzas, shifting in and out. If we are blessed to be noticed and nurtured by even one, we have a fighting chance to be who we are. Two gorgeous mountain landscapes also! Were you in a boat, moving closer/farther away?
I’m glad you enjoyed the poem. The photos are from the same dock, just zoomed in and out.
This is a lovely read
Thank you so much. I’m glad you enjoyed it.