[Critique Group 2] Leonard's comments on Alice's piece

Tue May 31 16:57:58 EDT 2022

Learning to Retire from Teaching

(Touches of Humor Have Been Assigned)

poemby Alice Jane-Marie Massa

I am learning

to retire from teaching.

I must confess

that, to me, retirement

is a process:

retirement does not really happen

on one day, at one hour, or in one minute.

All that led to this career of years of teaching

must be unwound.

Verry true for all retirement. 

I have found

that I miss the students, the hours, the markingof time

by semesters, classes, and school years.

Now I am learning to mark time by retirementyears:

first year, second year, ...

on this new stage that too many people fear.

Do you think I am learning not to lead?

Am I learning to step aside, to sit back, toavoid speaking up?

Down the road, this will all beeasier.  Right?

I am left with all these memories

of leading,

of liking to lead.

Didn’t I even lead in ballroom dancing in sixthgrade?

It’s true. 

You learn the basics 

and you keep on doing them  in one form or another.

Now, I have to learn this retirement dance orfade.

Perhaps, what I need is a Flamenco outfit

(with lots of ruffles and beading)

so that I can fit better into this retirementmold

of not leading.

That’s right. 

All you need is the right clothing. 

Leader Dog Zoe reminded me

that I have been successfully and properly

following her, Heather, and Keller

for 23 years—46 semesters plus 22 summers.

“That’s a lot of practice

at letting us be in the lead,” Zoe said.

You always include your leader dogs. You dodifferent thins, but it is still leading.

Of course, she is right; and I pat her prettyhead.

Nevertheless, I guess, she usually knows mystress.

One stumbling block of this learning process

is that I was born a teacher.

When I arrived in this world,

Doctor Loving quipped,

“One more—just like the other.”

Did he prophetically know that I was

one more teacher—just like my older sister?

My parents—a postmaster and a firefighter—

gave birth to two teachers.

My father nailed a chalkboard

to the knotty-pine wall

where my sister taught me,

and I taught my dolls and dogs.

Our models were those magnificent teachers

at Jacksonville Grade School,

You started early. 

It runs in the family.

but they never taught us how to retire.

Yes, I have always been a teacher—

in and out of the classroom,

behind or away from my beloved podium.

Whatever I know or have learned,

I am truly compelled to share.

So, when I learn how to retire from teaching, Ideclare:

I will teach you how to retire—without a care.

What a conundrum. 

When you are retired, 

you will teach people how to retire. 

But you will still be a teacher.

* * *

Learning to Retire from Teaching

(Touches of Humor Have Been Assigned)

poemby Alice Jane-Marie Massa

I am learning