"Mr. Marcus
you sound like a cheesy Pinterest quote!"
she shouts across the class
And even though it wasn't a joke,
(ha!) I laughed.
You 9th graders have no filter for
what comes out of your mouth or mind.
and it’s fine,
‘cause you’re right. I do frequently
spout sappy inspirational lines.
It’s ‘cause I write the life
that’s right in front of me.
And no cap the fact is that, every day,
I’m inspired by what I see.
That’s you.
Adolescents arranged like poetry
with whom I share English life lessons
hopefully holding youthful attention
for no more than 55 minutes,
(which for you, feels like a lifetime)
Grade 9 English Language Art class.
It’s where you…hopefully laugh
play with language.
Romp in vibrations
amongst sounds and sentences
to make meaning.
Find significance in between
the expression and experience.
Put purpose
into your beings
with your words to create
the world you want to see;
To connect in your conversations
through thoughts, questions and epiphanies
to make yourself into a universe
worth appreciating
AND yes, corny poetry.
And although cheesy, it’s true
every day I’m inspired by you
and I do actually care.
‘Cause I’ve been there
in those chairs
sat in cringe worthy
language classes
misunderstanding emotions;
happiness and confusion
mixed with doubt.
Carefree, yet anxious
while trying to figure
peers and parents out.
I've sat there,
in the shared humanity of high school,
where armies of cruel insecure voices
sit beside you
sit behind pieces of glass in your hands,
and sometimes sit and teach in front of a class,
and they all - sit inside your mind
each voice seeming to find a way
to tear you down,
which is why,
I stand
here, ready without hesitation
to build you back
and boldly tell you
my awkward facts,
That, every day, I’m inspired by you.
So this is the challenge I chose.
It is to arrange words in such a way
You would make them your own.
To know the strength that comes
when you hold your own quotes.
To cite and grip them tight
when life gets hard.
When pain or loneliness starts to rise,
to realize the power you possess
with words of your own lines.
And if your words and voice are hard to find,
here, you can borrow mine.
I’ll wait on the remix
while you make something new.
Make something this generation can vibe to;
remake plain phrases
from the simple truth.
Like a sappy ‘Pintrest worthy’ quote
that simply says,
“Every single day, I’m inspired when
I see you.”