You Held My Hand When Chips Were Down

Muse, you didn’t offer excuses to hold my hand To walk and talk to the flagging courage Weeping and seeping into the stamina gland Where years of interaction on the educational stage Yielded fields of unexpected benefits I accrued from the investment you made in my person Learning, teaching, editing the list of tweets I dared and cared to ensnare in every lesson My broken bones and swollen muscles Endeavoured to flavor as you and I did communicate On the chalk board in ninety minute corpuscles Riding in our blood dared to dictate, not to desecrate The warmth you exuded as you took over my teaching role Spinning my brain, pinning down my despair, leaning your shoulder To spell for me the scale I embraced to give up the droll Approach and technique you taught me could move the boulder That limited the view you held as to ways I could improve My teaching craft if only I could rework my draft Over and over again to delete passages that couldn’t move My performance forward if a blessed benefits raft Should finally open my eyes to the greatness your love Appreciation, support and faith could blend and lend to the path That led to the pinnacle your suave personality raised above The mediocrity I walked worshipping the poetry path Sylvia Plath Opened for my sojourn in search of the companionship I didn’t know would metamorphose my struggles into accomplishments Fed and led to a ship that grew into the friendship For which I hankered to fly into achievements You made possible Cos you made me believe against belief Sterling performances I once thought impossible You would catalyze to grant limpid life to my academic relief.