‘Teachers’

Paxton Hilgendorff is an environmental and contemporary studio artist who recently graduated from Colgate University, focusing on sculpture and photography. Based in Hamilton, New York, his work focuses on the intersections of the natural and artificial worlds, utilizing found objects and abandoned locations in the local and surrounding community. Inspired by growth and decay, Paxton's work aims to question the ability of humans to live within nature, as well as their ability to imitate the natural forms of the world.

Teachers

As a child

school teachers

were powerful beings

from a planet

galaxies beyond the rings

of our elementary

comprehension.

They enforced

the clock’s structure,

interpreted

mystical bell patterns,

and defined reality

beyond question.

Teachers handed out

kick balls and jump ropes,

determined what we played,

if we played, and where

we played anointing leaders

and losers.

They were gatekeepers of

heaven and hell,

ice cream cups

and chalkboard dust.

The aroma of cigarettes

on their clothes,

alcohol on their breath,

and pain in their eyes

signs and smells we had

yet to recognize

or understand.

Keith A. Dodson’s poems appeared in zines such as: Abbey, Asylum, Bogg, Catalyst, Chiron Review, Impetus, Lactuca, Pearl, Poetry Motel, Quick Brown Fox, Slipstream, and Wormwood Review. Recent poems have appeared in Beatnik Cowboy, Ink Nest, Jackdaw Review, Molecule, Myra’s Micros, Sheepshead Review, The Blotter, and The Argyle Lit Mag. Keith fondly remembers when typewriters ruled the world and "cut and paste" involved blue-lined graph paper, Xacto knives, and rubber cement. Like a submarine operating in The Small Press Sea for forty years, Keith spends much of his time submerged but does occasionally rise to periscope depth, search for a suitable target, fire a spread of torpedoes, and hope for a hit.