Editor’s note: The following poem is inspired by the book “The Book of Judith: Opening Hearts Through Poetry,” which celebrates a teaching artist who spent many years instructing inside San Quentin State Prison. A review of the book can be found here.
Only Judith Tannenbaum
teaches that
love rhymes with roses
and can take me
from a train station
through light that poses
as love and
transport me
to a kitchen
with light like a sea
around wooden chairs,
paisley cloth,
two mugs of hot tea.
Only Judith Tannenbaum
teaches about hearing silence
in trees that pulse
through valleys and rivers.
Science
still asks about snow on digger pines
and pneumonia,
where students
still grow together,
a stand of sequoias.
Only Judith Tannenbaum
can count down to
her last day
and spend that time
telling loved ones
“It’ll be OK.”
Roseli Ilano
and Maw Shein Win
wonder about what’s
after December.
Why, January,
of course!
Sometimes
it’s hard to remember.
Only Judith Tannenbaum
has the nerve to bake
chocolate chip cookies
for incarcerated and free staff,
veterans and rookies,
wearing Birkenstocks
and quiet open ears,
who befriended
someone refusing to
speak for a year.
Only Judith Tannenbaum
can capture
free-fall from a swing,
showing a changing world
as the most important thing,
so when you see oppression
change its expression
it is because
her memory
will always be a blessing …
