keep it real

 

sister teacher arrived on the scene with instructions from the master,

sowing love among the exotic herbs and wild flowers of her gardens.

up came a harvest of children who caught her challenge to learn

in spite of color, status, or address.

 

sister teacher would not, could not be ignored.

she fished up the motivation key for reluctant learners,

grabbing, cajoling, coaxing, and changing negatives to positives.

reaching into her heart,

moving mountains, people, and bureaucracies

mining resources,

and depositing gold nuggets of knowledge into memory banks.

 

sprinkling generosity amid sweet hard words,

sister friend invited us into her kitchen of fragrant aromas and melodious music,

feeding us boisterous laughter along with the freshly-baked rolls and delectable delights.

sister friend danced and pirouetted through our journey

sharing joy and pain

creating unbreakable bonds and deep roots.

 

her story, her love,

her journey, her testimony,

is our treasure,

our blessing.

__________________________________________________

 

Ms. Ross, or Enter the poet

 

Stage right

Enter the smiling poet

who favors the meticulous metaphor,

melting mellifluously in a voice, tender and soothing.

She disperses the gifts and applies accentuated alliteration

to the neediest who receive generous doses of

consoling comfort

insouciant inspiration

mesmerizing motivation

and kinetic kindness.

Yes, her love is subject and verb.

 

Lights center stage

Enter the gifted teacher

crafting lessons

like romare bearden fashioned disparate objects into artful masterpieces

like zora spoke folktales into grand literature

like elizabeth catlett hewed human dignity from inanimate clay.

She awakens drowsing learners from self-induced reverie

to open poe’s doors

to travel langston’s rivers

to test the bard’s sonnets

to fly with nikki

to reveal themselves to themselves,

to contemplate a future most favorable.

Stage left

Enter the benevolent friend

Need a hug?

some typing?

a few bucks?

a place to stay?

a ride?

a poem?

a stuffed animal?

a smile?

 

Applause, bouquets of red roses, and bows,

Enter Ms. Ross.

 

***

Jacqueline Henry Hill lives in Southern California where she is a member of Writer’s Anonymous, a workshop of the UCLA Writing Project. She has published her poetry and creative nonfiction in phati’tude, Reverie, Chaparral, Oasis Journal 2010, 2011, ad 2012.

Jacqueline published the memoir, Jennie Wren, Memories of Mommy in 2014.  She is also co-editor and contributor to Out of Anonymity, The Journal of The UCLA Writing Project 2014.