Bragging for Sunday Scribblings

This topic made me uncomfortable because I'm not one to brag or boast about myself. I tried writing a poem but just couldn't get into it. So I looked through my files and found this one that I wrote a few years ago for a high school poetry-writing class I taught. I think it shows off what I like best about myself: teaching kids and spreading a love of poetry.
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Teaching poetry to you guys
was like growing a garden.
When you entered the classroom
for the first time, you were rich soil
just waiting for me to plant
the seeds.

So I watered you with metaphors
and personification
and added the Miracle Gro
of imagery
and before my eyes, poems
were sprouting.

The amaryllises of
Amber,
Ashley
Annie, and
Annastacia
were elegantly spearing for the sun.

The yellow marigolds
of Mario, Marissa, and Meghan
scented the garden with spicy verses.

Our two Johnny-jump-ups,
Jessica and Jessica
blazed in purple stanzas.

Rachel and Roxanne
were delicate roses
with soft petals of words.

Those two bright sunflowers,
Steph and Sam,
grew tall with smiles and similes.

Bunches of soft heather
were Haileigh
filling notebooks with the hum
of her heart.

Kirstin was a vase of pinks
picked as carefully
as word choices.

Elyse, enchanter’s nightshade,
cast spells with her pencil.

We’ve had rain
to create emotion
and wind that tried to bend
your stalks
but the strength of your stories
sustained you
so that today I look out at
a colorful array of
human poems.