A Teacher's Contract

Between the teachers and the city
there exists a contract,
full of legal obligations on both sides,
pay steps, duties and responsibilities,
all to be negotiated.
But there is a higher, more important contract,
that requires no lawyers,
no arbitration, no picket lines.
It is a contract given, not stated,
ironclad and universal.
It is written on the smart board,
demonstrated in the halls, surrounding
student desks and classroom walls.
It is a contract automatically renewed each year,
forged in love, witnessed daily.
It is never up for a discussion or vote.
It is unchangeable, immutable.
And in Newtown the contract
remains unbroken in life, in death,
consisting of only two words:
"My kids."

Mel Glenn. This poem appeared in the Metropolitan Dairy feature, Monday, January 14, 2013, The New York Times, page A17.