My Name was Supposed to be Elizabeth Ann

Save the children. Save the world.

Start with one child. That child.

The invisible one.

Or the loud one.

The awkward one.

The one whose smirk and sneer builds walls.

The one whose smile bends like a question at your Good Morning.

That one.

And then that one.

Give them a book.

Give them a voice.

Give them a chance.

Give them No and Yes and Maybe.

Give them a choice.

Choices.

And a scale.

Teach them to read: themselves in a mirror. A stranger’s challenge. A map. All maps.

Time.

Teach them to believe: in themselves.

Each other.

Magic.

Fail.

Let them see you.

Let them see you wipe your eyes and speak loudly the language of your fall.

Then let them help you rise, and in so doing save yourself.

*****

To all the teachers returning to year three of the Covid classroom–I see you, I hear you. You rock!