“A great soul serves everyone all the time. A great soul never dies. It brings us together again and again.”
- Maya Angelou

My fondest memory of undergraduate college arrived the day Maya Angelou visited my Poetry 200 class at UC Davis as a guest of our professor-Gary Snyder. Professor Snyder asked me to perform a piece for her. Dr. Angelou said I had “sad eyes when I read”-which I inhaled immediately, as she shot me with an ambiguous smile. It still delivers chills. Dr. Angelou then invited me to participate at her event that same evening at Freeborn Hall where I opened for her show with my poem entitled “The Dogs” (a trope about rottweilers that guarded our refugee camp)—and subsequently introduced her to our campus, including to my mother who was in attendance.

I’ll never forget how unhinged I felt when she said “thank you for sharing your words”, to me. They are indelible watermarks across the relentless ether of my pen and teaching practice. Before I knew love of self, I knew my art of writing, and now I’m married to the pen until death do us part—thanks to the light of elders like Dr. Maya Angelou who showed me where to look. Within.

Immortal Love, my Phenomenal Queen. Rest in Power.

#thingsstudentsteachme