I’ve been contemplating
Reality and perception and reception
Intention
I’ve the best intentions
Hands held out numbly as all they hold sifts through cracks
Receiving
All the scraps seeping down
Are jostling, grasping people whose faces all shift
Perception
Does what I do matter?
It depends on who is answering the question.
Reality
Is jarring and difficult
Shaped by all three
Loved it when you first shared, and I love it now! You use such vivid language and it really captures the difficulty all people–teachers especially–struggling with the difference between our intentions and impact. I noticed that the line “Receiving” breaks with the “ion” pattern: “intention, perception.” If intentional, keep it! If not, it might sound better as “reception.”
Your poem makes me think about the challenge of showing up for students knowing that I’m clueless about the struggles they have outside of school. Logically, what we do matters, but it sure can be hard to perceive in the real day-to-day.
That feeling of holding our hands full and the sensation of losing so much through the cracks of our fingers…powerful imagery. I also love the pace of your poem: the short lines and repetitive syllables create a staccato that is urgent and demanding–echoing in sound the title’s warning, “Attention Please: Burnout Imminent,” and it is a “plea” to be heard, aided, offered assistance, etc.
I feel this. Does what we do matter? (And ftr, my answer to this is yes. We may never know. Our students may never even understand, but yes.)
The line, “Hands held out numbly as all they hold sifts through cracks” is how I feel as a teacher many times during the year. Beautiful writing!
I love this poem! It was beautiful when you read it aloud, but I loved getting to read through it and sit with the meaning and implication of each line.
“Hands held out numbly as all they hold sifts through cracks” – SO RELATABLE. I could visualize this perfectly. You hit the nail on the head.
A question everyone should ask themselves and answer with brutal honesty every single day day–“Does what I do matter?” If not, then why do what we do?