These students
Gauge my emotion.
Just as the canary
In a mine shaft,
They reflect the
Stresses and strains
Of my days.

And when they sing
My heart is light
And my soul
Takes flight
O’er the hills
And the valleys of
Our common ground.

When they are mute,
I cry a thousand tears.
These students,
These emissaries from
The land of my calling,
They lift me up so high,
They bring me down so low,
But on their wings
I fly.

June 25, 2000