on teaching freshmen composition

maybe someday, the respect will come

there are times
staring into their blank faces
when I want to explode
ink bursting from my heart
in a geyser
staining them forever

I want to awaken them
to the realization
that our world no longer
permits willful ignorance
of words
when even infants
manipulate them
on electronic devices

I want to turn their
indifference and contempt
into respect
even grudging affection
for words
giving them tools
to become everything
they want to be

I want to fill their veins
with words
dark metaphors
and witty ironies
to shield them
against the crushing weight
of adulthood

but I remain myself
and try to catch each eye
hoping against hope
that one day
a young man
(who I knew as
a blank faced boy
with no respect for words)
will come up to me
in the library
as I compose a poem
on my laptop,
and thank me

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