Colleagues in Time
We left; you arrived
I waved goodbye as you said hello
yet we are colleagues in time.
We know you by the tracks
you are leaving in the academic sand,
you know us by initials carved in the old oak desk.
The stream of eager students
that flow by you is from
the same spring as the stream of my time.
When we came we were orphans,
our name changed sending us
from foster home to foster home.
We were
the Department of Agriculture Education
and knew only how to grow children.
Then in loud denial we became
the Department of Non- Vocational Education
and the name told what we were not.
The new name got us
a department chair
who was Chemistry professor.
Kindness and scientific expertness
not enough to understand
what it was we did.
Then a Psychologist professor
and a friend from a related field
who said go forth and do your thing.
And we did with go forth
and put teachers in the classrooms
and successfully rode the rough budget waves.
And from these seeds grew
what you are today our
colleagues in time.
Doug Minnis 1 /10/14