my little book of poems

The Patience of a Teacher by Matthew Foley (My English teacher)

At poetry reading,

when I mention that I'm an English teacher,

there's always a poet that comes up to me and says,

"oh, you're a teacher huh?

God, I wouldn't have the patience for that."

And he's lucky enter that my mother raised me right,

And taught me good southern manners,

Because I'm played enough

To respond was so tired cliche

Like "yeah kids these days..."

but the truth is enter

I couldn't help but to detect

the smug pity in your voice

Like you, Mr. Poet, are just a little too good

for the stacks of papers

on my desk,

The demands of school district bureaucrats

And some students,

that know more cuss words,

than vocabulary words.

Yes, I'm sure that would exceed the boundaries of your patients.

And you would not be alone, Mr. Poet man

Across the land,

MFA grads bemoan their student loans,

But wouldn't touch it teaching school

With a ten foot pole

I've seen too many writers and artists treat teachers like a trap for countless hacks answer you must dirty their hands with the masses of teaching them to like, you know... Read

While I, Mr. Professional Poet Extraordinaire,

Sit in my lonely room, cultivating my delicate sorrows

Oh, I'm sorry, Mr poet.

Your right.

You wouldn't have the patience to do my job namely,

Busting my ass to make sure that the next generation actually appreciates the art form of your practice

No,

That would seriously disturb your zen, man

You wouldn't have the patience for that.

But a question, Mr. Poet:

Where is your audience coming from if not from the English class rooms of America?

Enter and where would you be, Mr postman without all the teachers in your life?

The one who taught you to read while you were struggling to tie your shoes: thank a teacher

The fact that you know the difference between a simile and metaphor:

thank a teacher

For the fact that you heard the names Langston, Whitman, Wheatley, Wordsworth, Dickinson, Poe, Thoreau, Melville, Mackay, Cummins, Cullen, Ginsberg, and Plath before you were 16:

thank a teacher

So, Mr. Poet, and conclusion: 

if you'd like to see bigger audiences at your poetry readings,

and if you want to see your poetry books flying from the shelves,

then do me a favor:

get off my high horse

you rode to the open mic

and be a

teacher

Because right now,

at this very moment,

there's a 13 year old kid

trying to write his first poem

and who's going to show him how to step to this mic and ROCK

that poem

If not you,

then who?

If not you,

then who?

Because

I promise you,

that kid

is worth

your patience.

This poem is not by me. It's by my biggest poetry inspiration, Matthew Foley, my English teacher. Without him, I would not like, read, or write poetry. I love this man and he has a book it's called We Could Be Oceans. So if you liked this poem please go check that out and some of my new content should be up in a few days. Thank you.