Words Of a Feather

(To the greatest teacher I know)

People come together every day to grow from one another

Their arms extending like the branches of a fruit tree, providing for one another

Their roots, or “legs” remaining sturdy to support themselves and others

People watch one another grow and stand by each others’ sides

All of us working together to prove Rousseau as right as possible

Yet sometimes, we end up bringing Hobbes’ ideology to life

Often not by ill intention, but with the sin of our hearts rising from our bodies

And creating who we are

There is one entity standing amidst the crowd

Not an unusual figure besides being 89 years old, yet having the body of a 30-year-old

Another person trying their hardest to support the islands of society

Not by ending world hunger or poverty or war

But by doing the most she can to raise many people into better versions of themselves

And in this woman(ish) soul is a chamber of stories

Stories made to inspire

Stories meant to be shared

Stories that may not always be listened to with ears of excitement, but

Stories that teach

Stories with meaning

The world is full of complexities

You see a basketball player who is also able to write poetry

Sharing his slice of life to whoever may read his works of art

Creating and destroying and recreating his sense of self

Balancing who he is, his relationships, and his sports

The teenage struggle of who one is can come to life inside of us

After hearing this story

A story of identity

The world has its tragedies

War after war after war yet we still do not learn from our mistakes

We still seek to hurt one another, but this being makes it all the more okay

With their stories of the strife of warfare

This story is not meant to have a happy ending or to inspire

It does not have a deus ex machina to save the characters

These characters are as real as the wounds the soldiers feel

But they are as fake as the illusions they have been exposed to

Realizing that at the end of the day

French or German, Slavic or Arabic, African or Asian

We are all people forced to do what we would not like to do

Yet some have more difficult battles to carry out, battles that cannot be resolved with hugs

Or poetry

None of the men and women and others in war are heroes to one another

But almost none of them are villains, either

This world can be magical

It is enchanting and mysterious, alluring and charming

When the world of the living can immerse itself in a fantasy or a dream, it can become a place of harmony

Mundane lives with mundane people doing mundane things

Trying to escape the subpar unfairness and despair of their average lives

Lovers loving one another but not loving others who love them

Actors and actresses never getting what they want

Kings and queens at war with one another from the same bed

They all clash together and unite in a magical night

A night of mischief and contrivance bestowed upon them by pucks

As love sprouts in its own strange way and turns these people into something else

Love is dangerous, wild, infuriating, confusing, and more

Love is almost impossible to define

But most of all, love is a fickle thing

This fickle thing can always find its way into someone’s life, and I don’t mean romantically

Love blossoms and triumphs in the end

Despite no one understanding the issues they have faced in the night, they find solace in one another

These stories teach us of the sheer mystery and awe experienced during the universal experience of love

From king to queen

From woman to man

From queen to donkey

The world is not just fiction, but a reality

A reality of tribulations we face every day without knowing it

The world really loves to mess with itself despite all of us supposedly being human

The world becomes warmer while we become colder

Colder towards anyone of a different color, shape, gender, type of love, and more

Unable to support for health, money, education, or children

While we all become weaker and more indifferent to all of this strife

We are unable to resolve these issues in a day

Athens wasn’t built in a day, after all

But through this special, one-of-a-kind human, we can see these problems

While the rest of the world grows blind

No, not blind, but ignorant

We can see these struggles and share them with one another

Share information about those who try to make the world a better place for all of us

And we can unite for one significant moment as we understand the severity of these challenges

And we understand that the world isn’t over yet

For us to be aware of the conflicts surrounding us that so many fear discussing is fantastic

It is compelling for us to learn of this from another human

This human is a human with amazing stories for the people she shares them to

And I know they have more stories to share with the world, or anyone who will listen

For people come to her every day and listen to her as she does her best

To do what she does best: teach

They teach every day to those dedicated and those slacking off

Sharing lessons that reach into our souls, lessons that will help each and every one of us

Whether we know it or not

For those of us who see the beauty of these stories, and the beauty of those who tell them to us

We can only love this human with all of our hearts

Which have been touched by this very person

Who am I talking about?

I’m talking about someone who inspires every day, not just with her schoolwork

Her diligence and dedication always bringing a smile to our faces

Someone with the passion and the courage to dream big

Dream big with the rest of us as we perform and sing and dance

Living out dreams we never even thought of

Someone who never gives up when the chips are down

Working hard to keep us afloat

Someone who passes on her bravery to others

They can always lift us up when we fall and they will never be tired

They will lift us up even when we haven’t fallen yet, knowing that this won’t be our last chance

Someone who pushes us to be better people to one another

Someone we can laugh with and spread words of kindness with

Someone who can give us a hug

Someone who cares and is cared about

And it’s sad to see that all the passion and love in the world can still be brushed aside

By people who can only see through one lens

People who fail to see the beauty of different minds and bodies all coming together

People who only want to see their way

So they push and pull like workers on an Animal Farm

Grabbing every last string of humanity and freedom that we have

In the name of “cooperation”

Those we care about can only try so much until no longer having the power they once had

Having been disillusioned from the system of education

Unfortunately, we can’t have individualistic freedom and everyone we have

Some people can only fade away.

Just… away.

But they are never gone

They will fight tooth and nail to resurface for the hundreds of reasons they are here:

Us

They will also be inside of us, warming our hearts

Their millions of stories will never fade away

Stories that will always be part of us

Stories that will always stay with us and help us grow

Stories that still make me become a stronger person than before

Stories that may design my future

Not just their stories, but their stories

The stories of who they are and who they will be

Who they were to everyone around them

Because to me, this person is someone who made my life better just by being there

Someone who always made me smile until I couldn’t hold it up

Someone whose brilliance will never be properly defined through words alone

Only by what she knows I think of her

And wherever they go and whatever they do, they will never forget us until their grave

This human will always keep stories of us

Stories of the amazing things we did together or apart

They will always remember what happened here at this school and outside of it

More importantly, she should know this isn’t her fault

We know who to blame

And we already cherish her impact on our lives and who we are

They will always be someone dear to us, someone unremarkable and unforgettable

Because they will always spread their compassion, humor, and love to those around them

I know they will