Quilt Poem - Experience is a Great Teacher
Experience is a Great Teacher by Jenny Riley
You’ve got a bit of knowledge and would really like to teach
It doesn’t look too difficult, in fact within your reach
But listen now before you start, there really is another part
You’d better test the water before you leave the beach
You’ve got to build your muscles for the mover will be you
And the table which needs moving will weigh a tonne or two
And you may have eyes like hawks, but you’ll never find the chalks
But they all trust the tutor and you must know what to do
You have to work out workshop and the things that they will need
And, if in doubt include it, is good advice indeed
But beware! Without a doubt, the thing that they leave out
Is quite crucial and you wonder can they read
You send photographs and details to a group that’s out of town
The reply is ages coming and you want to pin them down
For other groups are waiting, and it can be so frustrating
And you’ll sometimes feel you’re juggling like a clown
But arrangements go ahead for a comprehensive tour
You get that awesome feeling when they meet you at the door
For when you do your stuff and they just can’t get enough
You know you have succeeded and it makes your spirit soar
You learn to drive in places where there are not even roads
Your husband told you what to do if you new tyre explodes
You see our wide brown land, perhaps a bit more than you planned
And you see a lot of dingoes, lizards, emu ‘roos and toads
You said twenty in the class, they squeeze in twenty three
On trestle table’s not quite even, more like a storm at sea
They haven’t all got chairs; some are sitting on the stairs
Then someone blows the fuses and you’re bound to think “why me?”
There’s one within the class that knows a whole lot more that you
Learned in a week-end in the States in nineteen eighty two
You have to hide a smile, though she really is a trial
And you’ll wish you could be rude enough to tell her what to do.
Then one who won’t do anything unless you hold her hand
You leave the others coping, they will cover what you planned
After helping her all day, you just know that she will say,
I don’t know why I came here for I still don’t understand
You checked the dates again and loaded up the gear
And you reached the destination but something’s wrong I fear
Yes! Someone made a blue, the tutor’s number……. Two
You know they said September, but forgot to say next year!
And as you do more classes you’ll have seen it all before
Some classes are delightful while some are quite a chore
When your students glow with pride, then you know deep down inside
That no matter what the problem, this is what you’re teaching for.
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