MY YELLING DAYS
When I first
Started teaching,
I’d sometimes yell
At my students;
Not frequently,
But often enough
For me to look back
On those incidents
With shame.
I haven’t yelled at
My students
In some time;
I’m confident
That I never will again.
What happened,
I suppose,
Was an
Acceptance of
Futility,
Rather than
Some newly acquired
Understanding of
Or even fondness of
My students
Or of
Teaching.
I breathe deeply
Now;
In addition
To ending my
Yelling,
It’s ended my
Thinking back to
Those times
When I yelled.
I no longer
Hate my job,
As I once did;
But now the days
Go by so much
Faster,
Which in
My yelling days
I would’ve
Longed for,
Yet now that
These days are here,
Part of me
Wishes,
Slow down
Just a little
Please.