starlight
KáLyn Coghill
starlight is a three-poem piece that looks into the interior thoughts of a past, present, and future educator. Each poem is the discovery of education and pedagogical practices in an afrofuturistic world led by a Black femme instructor. The first poem, past in the short series, investigates the inner thoughts of a student's first interaction with Black teachers and the wonder they experienced in their classrooms. present's second poem is the interior contention of being the youngest Black professor and wanting to bring in the pedagogical practices you witnessed as a child. The present piece discusses fear and the desire to stay in the academy. Lastly, the future piece is a letter to their past self, thanking them for never wavering from their futuristic and colorful pedagogy. It is a gentle reminder that every version of this Black educator was enough. These poems touch on Black Interiority, Black Joy, and Black wonder in education.
past
jumping timelines
teaching
dancing
twirling
jumping timelines
twirling
dancing
teaching
i watch as my teachers
black
beautiful
glittered with gumption
sprinkled with sass
teach
dance
twirl
could i do this?
make classrooms feel like outerspace learning alongside students
dancing
teaching
twirling
could i do this?
glittered with gumption
sprinkled with sass
bursting with benevolence
instructing with compassion
future me will need this reminder to
teach
dance
twirl
twirl
dance
….teach
present
if i am the youngest in the department
if i am the first in bright colored clothes
if i am the most fly in my sneakers
will i still be a good teacher?
can i bring my wildest dreams into the classroom? paint the
walls with ideologies that challenge my students bring
laughter to those moments where fear seems to be thick
if i don’t teach to test but test myself as i teach
will I reach them?
bringing in concepts and new worlds
allowing them to be as creative as they please
creating space in space for my students
will i still be a good teacher if i pull from my ancestors?
black, strong, beautiful
bold, loud, colorful
future
dearest starlight,
thank you for creating this realm as a child
full of wonder and fantasies
i must thank your teachers for being unique.
i watch back as you twirled, and taught, and danced
you stood tall in the face of those who didn’t understand
you brought in stardust, glitter, florals, and fire you
became an alchemist in the classroom
you were black
you were fat
you were queer
you were disabled
you were poor
but my god you were you.
future me thanks past me for you.
thank you for your notes, reminders, your style, your grace.
we did something to change lives
we did something that unraveled
TORE apart
dis…man…tled….
present me;
past me;
thank you
signed,
future me