My Silent Teacher
I arrive daily in this
open classroom
as slow lessons
unfold after
the grey sky slides
into spring blue.
My tutor restores
her green dress
when sap flows
and buds stretch
into the April breeze
and tiny leaves
grasp for seeds
that float by
like helicopters.
Below, roots dig
through hard soil
in search for family
or friends or anyone
to connect with
and will not let go
until death.
While here
in this plastic chair
year after year after year
an inner peace
arises like a newborn
hungry for life,
starving for
tomorrow’s lesson.
© Dennis Barnes
Dennis Barnes lives in the Northern Virginia area where he leads a not-so-quiet poetic life. He was the 2005 recipient of the Baltimore People’s Poetry Done the Most to Advance Poetry award. Mr. Barnes has had poems published in over forty magazines and anthologies. Shades of Light, his first book of poetry, was published in 2007.
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