(Before the Face of God)

I have had the privilege of teaching Writing Composition and Literature classes over the past two years at Coram Deo Academics—a one-day per week classical education resource for homeschoolers. The rewards are great: I have developed relationships with an amazing  group of colleagues (an all volunteer staff!), awesome parents, and most of all, I have been richly blessed by the kids. I work with teenagers, and the extraordinary relationships I have developed with these students is the reason why my teaching experience is so rewarding. These are kids whose hearts and minds have been formed with honesty, integrity, dignity, accountability, love, and respect. (Not to say you won’t see upstanding students like mine in any given public school, but you would be hard pressed to see as many in one place such as this.) My students are exceptional.

One Exceptional Student

Jasmine Guillen, one of my honor students, is a gregarious, intelligent, and talented young lady with a penchant for language and literature, and she particularly excels in poetics.  I am honored and pleased to present two of her poems. This was not a homework assignment. Jasmine simply responded to a general plea I made to my class in April (during National Poetry Month):  “Isn’t there one of you who will write a poem for me?”  Subsequently, these two poems are Jasmine’s gift to all who read.

My King, My All in All

Through the darkest depths
Of the deepest doom,
You are the light that shines
Through the gloom.

You are strong through the
Dark night,
And you are the morning bright.

You keep me going on a rough
Day.
You're right beside me, there to stay.

Sometimes you're my only friend,
Helping my broken heart to mend.

Forever a friend, and very kind,
You're the way out when dark thoughts
Cloud my mind.

—Jasmine Guillen

Copyright © 2013

The Arabian Horse

Soft, shiny, rippling mane,
He stands, flaxen, tall, flung out.
His noble, dished face is like that 
Of his ancestors who pounded
Through the dry desert.
His nostrils flare as he takes in
The scents of the wild.
His muscles ripple with the call to
Run and be free.
His silky mane rustles along his neck.
He half-rears, dancing on slender legs.

His whinny pierces the air.
Small, neat ears are atop his
Refined head, alert and listening.
His fleet hooves are ready to carry
Him across the desert.
He stands on top of a sand hill,
Clearly outlined against the setting sun.

He trumpets his challenge to 
Anything listening.
His proud fierceness is well-known.
He is the Arabian Horse.

—Jasmine Guillen

Copyright © 2013