Time Has Been Blissfully Swift

When I was a kid (and I don't think it's just me), I thought teachers are also cloaked with infallibility just like the Pope. A teacher's word is a dogma, or so I thought. Then I became a teacher. I had series of mishaps, starting from falling from a flight of stairs to falling from a platform in front of the class. There are times when I am unable to answer my student's questions or I confused lessons. In spite of these, I was able to bounce back by humbly accepting my mistakes and correcting them. Much to my surprise, students appreciate such humility.

Indeed, teachers are not infallible.

Yesterday, my students were taking a quiz and a some lines came to my mind that best described how I felt the other day. Just so to capture it, and not to forget it, I quickly grabbed my laptop and typed as quickly as I could so the lines won't disappear and get back fast to my students who were taking a quiz.

Unfortunately, one of the students posed a question if what is flashed onscreen is included in the quiz. Then I realized that my laptop was connected to an LCD projector. And my poem is right there, onscreen, and all my feelings exposed for my students to read. The funny part there is I forgot the shorthand command to hide the screen. The whole class was teasing and curious to read more of the poem. I just smiled at them and asked them to get back to their quiz.

Next to my art, poetry is like a therapeutic salve for me. It provided an outlet to free those overwhelming emotions that may drown me into sorrows. I didn't have a good day two days ago. Thanks to my friend, Ising, I was able to bounce back. Now, the poem is my way to put closure to that and move on.

To my curious students, here is the complete poem:

Time has been blissfully swift

It has left its wounds

Tarnishing the gifts it brought.

The pain of the day has left its mark

To this already scarred spirit;

The night now witnessed the wear

On this wanderer’s being.

The only charm in this bitter pill

That time has been blissfully swift.