About 35 years ago, I took 28 students to Greece for the Easter vacation. It was a very eventful trip. We went to the Acropolis in Athens, Delphi, Corinth, Mycenae, Cape Sounion and the island of Hydra. And one of my students ruptured his appendix and had to have emergency surgery. We were lucky to bring him home alive. I never forgot that "vacation."
On the long 12 hour plane ride return to the US on April 7, 1974, I walked up and down the aisle. My students slept peacefully as we flew home, and was struck by how durable yet dependent these children were.
Today, I was reminded of that moment as I watched a group of my students try to explain to me how they felt about an important issue. I was reminded of how fragile, yet how valuable, they were. And what an awesome responsibility taking care of them can be.
And I was reminded of this poem that I wrote on the plane all those years ago.
In the Air,
29,000 Feet over Europe
Christopher Bogart
See how they sleep
With heavy eyelids, shadowed downy cheeks,
So silent and serene.
And when I think
Of how they hold their capabilities
For war and for peace…
I am amazed
That God creates so complex and so mystical
A creature in a child
That I wonder…
If the gleam and the glitter in their eyes,
The smile that seems to warm the Earth,
The tears that rent the heart
From its ordained repose,
And the quiet love that rests so deep within…
Is not divine.
No comments:
Post a Comment