Tell Me

What I want most is for them to want
this. To want to feel meaningful
perhaps in someone else's life.

It's not that they are not already
but do they feel it?

Do they want to be moved by literature, words
maybe even equations?
Do they want to create
maybe using the languages they already know?
Do they want to keep their eyes open to
contemplate with the one they love the most.

Tell me students, peers-you are just six years younger.
What do you feel when Frances Wright asks us
to band together for equality but Malcolm X
tells us its an independent fight?

Tell me,
What doe you feel when you notice true
disdain from your teachers. I've heard
it too.

Tell me,
What do I not know? Tell me what
we can learn today.
Tell me students. Tell me.