I have played notes
and read to expressionless faces.
I have given speeches
and sent words on their way.
But it is the classroom
where lives my best performance.
Where I change hats,
and try humor
loudly screaming Macbeth
and Beowulf–
at blank faces.
Yet I still catch smiles.
I perform every day,
to be engaging and moving,
to increase conviction,
so that I am
the teacher
I always wanted.
