The person you most admire.
Your teacher.
The person you most despise.
Your teacher.
The person you love with all your heart.
Your teacher.
The person who drives you crazy.
Your teacher.
The person you pass by daily without ever noticing.
Your teacher.
The person you’ve never met.
Your teacher.
The childhood friend you lost touch with decades ago.
Your teacher.
The neighbor you’ve never spoken to.
Your teacher.
Your child.
Your teacher.
Your mother.
Your teacher.
Your father.
Your father’s father.
And his father too.
Same with the mothers.
Until the roots of the roots of the family tree.
And the family tree next to the family tree.
And the family tree in the forest across the way.
And the forest beyond the horizon.
And the forest that was razed.
And the forest that eventually grows in its place.
Donald Trump.
Hillary Clinton.
Gary Johnson.
Vladimir Putin.
Your teacher.
Moshe Rabbeinu.
Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Rachel, and Leah.
Jesus, the Buddha, Confucius, and Homer.
Lao Tzu.
Your teacher.
An entire universe of forms.
Gently and brutally
Teaching.
You.
Your teacher.
You their teacher.
You
an entire universe of forms.
Gently and brutally
Teaching.