Welcome to Poetically Yours. Poetically Yours showcases poems by northern Illinois poets. This segment features Paula Coulahan.
Coulahan is a Rockford Public Schools teacher. She wrote this poem last spring when school was closed due to the pandemic. It’s called “Kneel.”
What I see on the drive to school is
Kids waiting for the bus with their beautiful dark locks
Picked up high, against hatred
Kids who match their tights to their skirts
And kids who clash because they can
And because it just feels right
What I see on the drive to school is
Parents holding small hands, clasped in theirs
As they walk along in the silver sun or rain
Kids poised on their toes like dancers, to run across the street
Grandmas hovering because they can
And because it just feels right
What I see at the start of the day is
Kids saying the Pledge with their hands over their hearts
So much that they don’t know about the world yet
Kids of all shades, with big hearts, big eyes, and big dreams
I want to kneel, like Kaepernick, because they have faith
And because it just feels right
- Yvonne Boose is a current corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.
