Poetry for Us
Andy Mager of Syracuse Cultural Workers opens in a new tab submitted this poem, with permission of the author, in response to Craig Simpson’s remembrance of Dik Cool published in the December 2023 newsletter. Andy wrote: “I hope you’re well in these challenging times for our world, and for those of you engaged in the critical and undervalued work of educating young children.”
We invite your submissions and comments to 1peaceeducators@gmail.com.
Blessing for the Educators of Young Children
for Cora Cool-Mihalyi
May all your days be like your best teaching day:
quiet when you shush, attentive when you speak,
responsive when you question
and loving when you love.
May the title “Educator of the Young”
be a more praise-worthy title than Celebrity or Executive.
May funders, politicians, reporters and principals
stop often to ask you what it is that you most need today.
May there be many occasions when you set aside all the guides,
all the rulebooks, all the reforms, expectations and norms;
time when you realize that you know exactly what to do
and you do it well.
May students remember that you planted the joy
of understanding. May it yield abundantly in their hearts
and sneak up upon them unexpectedly years later
as the sweet remembrance of the time they learned compassion.
May our world finally stop being too busy to notice what the children need!
May no child ever again be told she can’t sing.
May your work be well funded and may there be no more fundraisers.
No more book sales, no candy, no store receipts, no dance-a-thons.
May you stand proudly before the Community exactly as you are:
Blessed. Deserving.
And with nothing for sale but your time, your skills and your attention.
May space for children be the best designed of all spaces;
where clutter miraculously organizes itself, where the light
always shifts just enough for the curious to remain curious,
where the air refreshes and reassures the children
that they are never all alone.
So May It Be
Photo: Art by Elise Sommers © 2023.
Drawn from Blessings for Times Like These opens in a new tab
by Jack Manno © 2021.
Jack Manno opens in a new tab is an emeritus Professor of Environmental Studies, a poet, singer, father, and an activist who taught at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, for over 25 years.
He is a co-founder of Syracuse Cultural Workers.
