A Poem as We Leave Epiphany

Tomorrow we enter the time after Epiphany.  I already miss the holiday season.  I miss Advent. 

For years, the time between New Year's Day and Epiphany was a time when I prepared for classes.  With all those holiday associations swirling in my brain, this poem came forth.  It's included in my second chapbook, I Stand Here Shredding Documents.



Preparing Syllabi on the Feast of the Epiphany



In this lowly manger of a community college,
she is always on the lookout for wisdom
of any kind. So many students, so numbly submissive
to their destiny of refrigerator repair
or dreary office work.

She has simplified the assignments
since the majority of her students will settle
for their Associate’s degree, so afraid
are they to set their sights higher.

She always includes one project designed
to break them from their myopia,
a light in the wilderness assignment
that beckons them to be better students
than they dreamed possible.

Most will not accept this crucifixion
of an assignment. Most are comfortable
in their pre-resurrection skins.
Still, there’s always one or two who catch
that holy fire and feed on the locusts
and wild honey of true scholarship.