Until Now
J. T. Ledbetter
What is this sound soughing easily
In the tall trees
Breaking aginst the hard buildings
Where ideas drive like ice into minds
We think not yet alive?
What is this voice,
Soft, direct,
Given as grace, gift of self without question
Without judgment,
Without thought of payment save thought in kind,
Easy, light as air?
This man we knew/know/love reminds us now
Of flags unfurled and laughter loosed,
This kind soul walks among us now and always,
In the minds and hearts of the young in whom
We trust our fortunes, though we dare deny it,
Though we raise our voices in classrooms and halls
Hearing echoes we know and love because they are
Our thoughts, our ideas:
But what is this voice that reminds us who we really are?
This soft voice and lively eyes gently reminding us we are here for the young,
That it is their voices we raise, their minds we fill,
Their hearts we touch
Not in our imagebut in their own, hidden perhaps,
Searching for space, tearing apart our best ideas
And dreams, cracking the chrysalis we helped to form.
O listen!
There can be no question whose voice we hear,
Whose lively eyes we welcome
Whose lanky body curves around the coffee cup,
Whose yellowed note pad and blue jacket
Walk out of the shadows into the light
Into our lives.
It is Jon we hear around these hard buildings
And lovely flowers and in these offices we build
To find the answers and in the walks we take
In kingsmen park with students to hear the questions
It is jon!
It is jon we did not know we loved so much
until now.
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