A Note to Our Readers by Sam M. Intrator and Megan Scribner xi
Foreword by Parker J. Palmer xxi
Introduction by Taylor Mali xxvii
Relentless Optimism 1
Emma Lazarus's "The New Colossus" reflection by Randi Weingarten 2
Fleet Foxes' "Helplessness Blues" reflection by Stephen Lazar 4
Marianne Williamson's "A Return to Love" [Excerpt] reflection by Rachel Willis 6
Edgar Lee Masters's "George Gray" reflection by Mel Glenn 8
Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" reflection by Kaitlin Roig 10
Rudyard Kipling's "if" reflection by Andy Wood 12
Loris Malaguzzi's "No Way. The Hundred is There." reflection by Tiffany Poirier 14
Gerald Jonas's "Lessons" reflection by Julie A. Gorlewski 16
Taylor Mali's "What Teachers Make" reflection by Kevin Hodgson 18
Teachable Moments 21
Rainier Maria Rilke's "All will come again into its strength" reflection by Gregory John 22
Richard Wilbur's "The Writer" reflection by Emily Brisse 24
Theodore Roethke's "The Waking" reflection by Nora Landon 26
Emily Dickinson's "'Tis so much joy! 'Tis so much joy!" reflection by Lily Eskelsen García 28
Paul Boswell's "This Splendid Speck" reflection by Christine Intagliata 30
Stanley Kunitz's "Halley's Comet" reflection by Rob Maitra 32
Emily Dickinson's "If I can stop one Heart from breaking" reflection by Annette Breaux 34
John O'Donohue's "Beannacht" reflection by Emanuel Pariser 36
D. H. Lawrence's "The Best of School" reflection by Tom Vander Ark 38
Beauty in the Ordinary 41
Fernando Pessoa's "To Be Great, Be Entire" reflection by Vicki Den Ouden 42
Naomi Shihab Nye's "Famous" reflection by Safaa Abdel-Magid 44
Pablo Neruda's "In Praise of Ironing" reflection by Cindy O'Donnell-Allen 46
Louise Glück's "Aubade" reflection by Kent Dickson 48
W. H. Auden's "In Memory of W. B. Yeats" [Excerpt] reflection by Jamie Raskin 50
Stephen Crane's "LVIII" reflection by Liam Corley 52
Mary Oliver's "Crossing the Swamp" reflection by Maureen Geraghty 54
Philip Levine's "What Work Is" reflection by Holly Masturzo 56
Walt Whitman's "Section II from 'Song of Myself' " reflection by Jennifer Boyden 58
Enduring Impact 61
Naomi Shihab Nye's "Kindness" reflection by Hannah Cushing 62
Margaret Atwood's "You Begin" reflection by Karen Harris 64
Thich Nhat Hanh's "Please Call Me by My True Names" reflection by Ruth Charney 66
William Stafford's "Deciding" reflection by Michael Poutiatine 68
Li-Young Lee's "Eating Together" reflection by Wanda S. Praisner 70
John O'Donohue's "Blessing: For Presence" reflection by David Henderson 72
Tara Sophia Mohr's "Your Other Name" reflection by Lianne Raymond 74
Jim R. Rogers's "Good Morning!" reflection by Jane Zalkin 76
Galway Kinnell's "Saint Francis and the Sow" reflection by Kirsten Olson 78
The Work Is Hard 81
Antonio Machado's "VI" reflection by Michael L. Crauderueff 82
Mary Oliver's "Wild Geese" reflection by Kathleen Melville 84
Calvin Coolidge's "Persistence" reflection by April Niemela 86
Sharon Olds's "On the Subway" reflection by Lori Ungemah 88
Anonymous's "Work Gloves" reflection by Tom Meyer 90
William Stafford's "Next Time" reflection by Leanne Grabel Sander 92
Emily Dickinson's "We grow accustomed to the Dark-" reflection by Rachel Fentin 94
Walt Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" reflection by Ronald Gordon 96
Wislawa Szymborska's "Life While-You-Wait" reflection by Veta Goler 98
Tenacity 101
Tupac Shakur's "The Rose That Grew from Concrete" reflection by Jose Vilson 102
Philip Levine's "M. Degas Teaches Art & Science at Durfee Intermediate School, Detroit, 1942" reflection by Laura Roop 104
Mel King's "Struggle" reflection by Susan Rodgerson 106
Langston Hughes's "Theme for English B" reflection by Paola Tineo 108
Irene Rutherford McLeod's "Lone Dog" reflection by LouAnne Johnson 110
Billy Collins's "On Turning Ten" reflection by Will Bangs 112
Edgar A. Guest's "It Couldn't Be Done" reflection by Glendean Hamilton 114
Lao-Tzu's "On Leadership" reflection by Larry Rosenstock 116
William Ernest Henley's "Invictus" reflection by Caridad Caro 118
Feisty 121
Rumi's "Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing" reflection by Hugh Birdsall 122
Mary Oliver's "The Poet Dreams of the Classroom" reflection by Katie Johnson 124
Langston Hughes's "Mother to Son" reflection by Ron Walker 126
Jane Kenyon's "Otherwise" reflection by Alison Overseth 128
Richard Brautigan's "The Memoirs of Jessie James" reflection by Stephen Mahoney 130
Marge Piercy's "To be of use" reflection by Amy Christie 132
Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise" reflection by Mary Beth Hertz 134
Olive Senior's "Colonial Girls School" reflection by Dena Simmons 136
The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell's "An Innocent Freedom Writer" reflection by Kayleigh Colombero 138
Moment to Moment 141
Bill Holm's "Advice" reflection by Teri O'Donnell 142
Katha Pollitt's "Lilacs in September" reflection by David S. Goldstein 144
Herman Hesse's "The Ferryman" reflection by Rachel Boechler 146
Mark Nepo's "The Appointment" reflection by Judy Sorum Brown 148
Captain Ed Davidson's "Footprints by the Sea" reflection by Sandi Bisceglia 150
Rumi's "The Guest House" reflection by Richard H. Ackerman 152
Chuang Tzu's "Flight from the Shadow" reflection by Mark Bielang 154
Thomas Merton's "In Silence" reflection by Thomas A. Stewart 156
Derek Walcott's "Love After Love" reflection by Tim Ryan 158
Together 161
John Daniel's "A Prayer among Friends" reflection by Melissa Madenski 162
Maya Angelou's "Alone" reflection by Nina Ashur 164
Stephen Dunn's "The Sacred" reflection by Dan Mindich 166
James A. Autry's "On Firing A Salesman" reflection by Brian Dixon 168
Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins, to make much of Time" reflection by Cordell Jones 170
Lucille Clifton's "blessing the boats" reflection by Kathleen Glaser 172
Raymond Carver's "Happiness" reflection by Dennis Huffman 174
X. J. Kennedy's "Little Elegy" reflection by Kenneth Rocke 176
Mel Glenn's "A Teacher's Contract" reflection by Harriet Sanford 178
Called to Teach 181
Gary Snyder's "For the Children" reflection by Julia Hill 182
Maya Angelou's "The Lesson" reflection by Jovan Miles 184
Gregory Orr's "It's not magic; it isn't a trick" reflection by John Mayer 186
Judy Sorum Brown's "Hummingbirds asleep" reflection by Sandie Merriam 188
John Fox's "When Someone Deeply Listens to You" reflection by Nell Etheredge 190
Alexis Rotella's "Purple" reflection by Leatha Fields-Carey 192
William Stafford's "The Way It Is" reflection by Donna Y. Chin 194
Langston Hughes's "I loved my friend" reflection by Margaret Wilson 196
Wendell Berry's "The Real Work" reflection by Amy Harter 198
Using Poetry for Reflection and Conversation 201
Afterword by Sarah Brown Wessling 221
Center for Courage & Renewal 223
The Contributors 225
The Editors 241
Gratitudes 243
Credits 245
