For Our Students

by Anna Clark- Martin, TN —

For Our Students

I celebrate you, each of you.

I sing of you, each of you.

Like Walt Whitman I sing and celebrate.

I see the sun around you, all morning-brightness,

all evening-glory.

I hear the wind move near you, restless power

and possibility,

blowing secrets and elusive sounds

among moonlit branches.

The moon shines for you, and you like poets

walk moonlit paths together.

The stars were placed just for you.

You stand on the edge of the universe

and count them,

finding patterns, finding pleasure in the counting,

one by millions.

Here.

Now.

Back you come into classrooms

Star counters

Star children

Star dust . . .

Shapers of the landscape

Shapers of the future

Writers,

Thinkers,

Artists,

Friends,

Individuals—

empowered by each other and the sun

and the wind and the night and the stars.

By Anna Clark, Instructor, English Department, UT-Martin