Down ahead of us at the junction There is a man standing, gesturing ambiguously What meaning he is attempting to communicate Can neither be told nor known exactly Though we are aboard this train, passengers by association We have forgotten its' destination (My Canadian friend emails About her recent visit to Auschwitz) We have forgotten a lot of things before us About that man standing, gesturing ambiguously And we have forgotten who Is at the control of the engine of this train A glance out of the train window and behind Reveals a dusty, ashen gray A conflagration of black and white and blood red and the blues A contamination of hate clouds the windows, obscures us from seeing The man's arms are moving But how to interpret the signal Puffs of smoke as if from a starters pistol But we defer untrained for these Olympics No dais to distinguish the 1-2-3 (all aboard!) We lurch and I grasp the safety handle And pull toward me what is most important (my girls) And misty-eyed from fear and grief We hope beyond hope that this train won't move on (the horns sound) Toward that junction And on to the next gray, loveless destination
21st Century Learning in the 21st Century – so far…