Poetry Slams and Processing Stations

I learnt a lot this past week.

I went to two of the three semifinals of the Ann Arbor Poetry Slam.

There I learnt that our teens understand abusive relationships and racial tensions and homophobia much more than I do.
They talk about noisy families and loner uncles and dead grandmothers.
They worry about war.
They personify new socks and caterpillars and pet rocks.
They write cheesy love poems and I-failed-math poems.
I watched and listened to these young women and men in awe - exploring their inner selves and expressing their views of life.
I admired the inspiring teachers who encouraged and guided these young adults to share their hearts with the world.

I spent a day at the Military Entrance Processing Station in Lansing.

There I learnt that there are young adults who care about counter-terrorism and world politics.
One young man is a junior in college who has decided to join the Army Reserve. I admired the patience and courtesy of the recruitment officer as he talked with the young man and answered the many questions his mother had.
I noticed that the young men and women who walked in and out of that building that day came in all colors and sizes. Some were getting sworn in, some were there for their test and others were shippers – getting shipped to their basic training.
I increased my vocabulary in military jargon and acronyms.
I wondered how many buttons were on the uniforms of the top brass – I counted twenty shiny ones on that of the recruiting officer for the Marines.
I realized that college basketball can be a topic of discussion on ESPN for the entire day.
And who knew that Taco Bell did not serve coffee?
I shared the excitement of a young man still a senior in high school as he showed all of us strangers his new military id that said ‘Future Soldier of the United States Army’.
Most of all I was humbled by the simple oath taking ceremony where the new recruit stood in a small windowless room lined with important flags and repeated heavy words of commitment after the officer in army fatigues while his mother stood and watched with tears and mixed emotions.

28 March 2009