Palimpsest
for teachers

Eraser sweeps,
Chalk dust falls,
Word disappears,
The school day done.

Information erased,
Rewritten, erased.
Each day imparts,
Each day departs.

Eons of Knowledge -
There, but ephemeral,
Dormant til the next class:
New pupils, new minds.

Knowledge more than shown: bestowed.
The paramount gift:
Blackboard, the wrapping paper,
Chalk, a card and ribbon.

The mind, a blank book from God,
Curiosity, a priceless pencil,
And yet both trifling
Without a hand to teach the letters.

- David Friend, September 2001.