By Joseph Murphy, Vanderbilt University

To unsettle and alloy that bewilderment with joy
To allow flight and provide an unseen scaffolding
of support
To hold tightly while letting go

To correct with precision and warmth
To reveal mysteries and provide ladders for
climbing to understanding

To challenge, to exhort, to demand
To push, to pull, to carry
To build, to empower
To respect and acknowledge, to ennoble

To place one’s own heart on the altar and one’s
own hands in the fire
To remember the forgotten

To feel, to share
To dance in celebration
To pass into the shadows

To teach

Reprinted with permission from Education Week.