Wednesday, July 25, 2012

On an extremely exhausting day

On an extremely exhausting day,
Two students stood at my gate.
"Hello sir, we are here for the class!"
Their voices, glad, despite the wait.

"Didn't you hear, it's cancelled?", I said,
Masking my exhaustion with a smile.
Ten hours of teaching and meetings,
And now, this, to break my evening lull?

But the kids had walked here, my heart reasoned,
To learn English, like I told them to.
And so I left them to learn on their own,
Instructing them to read the book through.

"Knock on my door, if you need any help",
I returned to my room, seeking rest.
But just as I laid my head to the bed,
I heard the voices of my young guests.

Left to themselves, they began reading aloud,
Correcting each other, starting over.
Their voices soared above the weight of the day
Pried open, my eyes began to water.

The teacher's job does not end after school
It's not limited by its menial pay
This I learnt, as I abandoned my rest to read
With two students, on an extremely exhausting day.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Conversations

[translated]
"Why are you always sleepy in class, M?"
"Work, sir"
"What work? "
"I have to tend to the farm, fix the motorcycle, do the chores…"
"And your parents? What do they do?"
"My mother is always busy working."
"And your father?"
"He died last month"
************

"With your partners right now, I want all of you to practice using the word "angry" by saying, "I am angry because…." Use your own reasons."
"Cikgu, apa itu 'bercerai' dalam Bahasa Inggeris?"
"Bercerai? Kalau untuk boyfriend dan girlfriend, kita guna "break-up". I am angry because I broke up…?"
"No, sir. Bercerai"
""Divorce". What is your sentence?"

"I am angry because my parents divorced yesterday night".

Friday, July 13, 2012

The thing about Today

The thing about today is that no matter how many people tell you to plan for it -- it is immeasurably unpredictable; anything could happen today which no one could fully foresee. No matter how old you are and how many 'todays' you've seen, you've never seen a day like this one, and no one has either. No matter how regimented your routine is and how tight your schedule is, today will not be the same as yesterday, and was never meant to be. Today contains new people to meet, new jokes to laugh at, new tears to shed, new thoughts to think, new fears to battle with.

Today is unique, and it came purely by Grace; we didn't deserve to have today. But we have it nevertheless, and we have a myriad of choices on how to use it. And, when today leaves to be replaced by another day, it will never return -- it is lost forever, swallowed by the black hole of time -- like the thousands of days before it. Photographs, writings, monuments and recordings will try but fail to fully re-enact the majesty of today, reduced to faded portraits of the truth. The man of the future will do every thing in his strength to return to today to change or re-live it, but will tragically be forced to merely remember it.

We are stewards of today. Live it like it lasts for only a day, but treasure it like it echoes throughout eternity.