Titicaca

i've been the kind of teacher lately
I despise
impatient
reactive  
demanding to be understood
without understanding first
on Friday
a girl ran out of the room crying
i suck
You should hate me
 
on days when I've slept more than three hours
or days when i push past the lack of sleep
and tamp down my depression
the worst in many years
on days- or hours- when my voice doesn't suddenly crack
because i'm on the verge of tears
on those days- or hours-
i'm a great 7th English teacher
i bring literature to life
abstract and enact vocabulary in fun ways
coax better writing from my students
than they dreamed themselves capable
I'm pretty cool at those times
you should like me
 
at the end of the day Friday
the extra bad day
the day i totally sucked (you should hate me)
I decided my students needed a gift
 
I was almost out of Jolly Ranchers
the intensely flavorful candy they love
i had to think of something else
 
so
 
while showing Sudan on a map
the setting of the story we're reading
I mention
apropos of nothing
that Sudan is a long way from South America
and the borders of Peru and Bolivia
where one finds the world's highest navigable lake  
 
TITICACA
 
after the laughter dies down
one wide-eyed girl wonders
if i have any idea what i just said
because certainly I wouldn't have said
Lake
TITICACA
if i knew...
 
yes i affirm
-the picture of sweet older lady teacher innocence-  
I said
Lake TITICACA
 
more laughter
 
i consider
telling an inpromptu story
about a man named Dick
who loses his balls
(what? he had a football and a baseball)
during a haboob (dust storm)
at Lake Titicaca
but wisely decide
that's going too far
especially the part
about also losing his cat
the only pussy he ever loved...
 
instead
class now over
the gradual student dismissal system now beginning
i content myself
with watching several girls
spin around the room
occassionally busting out hip hop moves
all whist gleefully chanting "Titicaca! Titicaca! Titicaca!"
it's kind of beautiful
 
they liked my gift
they learned some geography
the day ended happily
 
feel free to like me
i kind of liked me too