for the Charles S. Pierce Middle School Aquarius Class of 2014
When you leave these halls
that have echoed with your laughter,
your shouts, your whispered conversations,
you will take a piece of me with you.
You will always be a part of me.
It has always been so.
The piece of me you take
will differ for each of you,
much as you are different,
one from the other.
I hope that piece contains
what is best of me, though,
I know the other is there.
This, too, has always been so.
I have lost my patience,
lost my temper,
wrung my hands in despair
as I watched you make the mistakes
that you must make
in order to own your own future.
But the lost temper and wringing hands
helped tell the whole story:
that I cared about you,
worried about you,
loved you.
The lot of a teacher
includes loss.
We know you will leave.
It is our main goal:
to prepare you to go.
But we–
I–
always wonder,
how are you?
How is this life
I tried to help shape
for the better
going?
(Are you reading?)
When you leave,
you will take a piece of me.
But equally important:
you will always be a part of me.
A story you told,
a book you lost yourself in
will bubble to the surface
with the sound of your voice,
the shape of your face,
and I will smile to remember.
Though you leave,
I am never gone.
When you can’t
tell your parents,
when your teachers
will not understand,
when your friends
are no consolation,
I am here.
I will listen to you
as you talk.
I will bring you back
to the beauty
that is you.
(You are beautiful.)
I will ask you
what you are reading.
I will recommend
a good book.
I will remind you:
you
are
beautiful.
When you leave,
I will still be here.