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Anna Johnson-Schappaugh, Florida Atlantic <strong>University</strong><br />
The Atom (Salute to the Social Worker)<br />
It is not in the nature <strong>of</strong> change to be easy.<br />
Amidst a symphony-storm <strong>of</strong> humanity, dear one, you are the atom, spinning love-threads in the dark.<br />
Yet, so eternity weaves itself into material; so the one connects to all.<br />
So the world is born, again and again.<br />
If life calls to you, urgent and hopeful, to live this way, remember:<br />
It may be small, and is also everything.<br />
Jillian Cooper, <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Southern Indiana<br />
Emotions <strong>of</strong> a Social Worker<br />
Show fear for it means you are concerned,<br />
Show concern for it means you have experience,<br />
Show experience for it means you have hopes,<br />
Show hope for it means you have dreams,<br />
Live your dreams for it means you can believe,<br />
And believe for those who are afraid to show fear.<br />
Angie Wimmer, Chadron State<br />
Dear Social Worker<br />
A social worker is someone who has compassion and courage to face a client’s life situations<br />
with integrity, passion and pride…<br />
To take their own life experiences, challenges, adversities, victories, and utilize all <strong>of</strong> the above<br />
to help the client understand that they are advocating for them and they are on their side…<br />
And social worker you must know-empathy, warmth and genuineness are not things you can<br />
turn on and <strong>of</strong>f like a light…<br />
You must really live it, feel it, and portray it in everything you do, and do so with all <strong>of</strong> your<br />
might…<br />
So, if you have it in you to reach beyond the reachable and to stretch beyond the stretchable<br />
and to never expect anything in return, dear social worker you may be almost ready to learn…<br />
Learning how to walk a day in someone else’s moccasin’s, seeing the way they live and not<br />
judging them-EVER-for anything they have done…<br />
Then my friend with all <strong>of</strong> your feelings aside, time away from family and friends, very little<br />
money or praise-your career has maybe just begun…
Heidi Moore, Salisbury <strong>University</strong><br />
We are<br />
We are a seamstress delicately mending wounded hearts.<br />
We are a compass providing guidance through the uncertain sea <strong>of</strong> life.<br />
We are sunshine and rain nourishing the seeds <strong>of</strong> change.<br />
We are silent candles providing attended illumination.<br />
We are echoes to the voices that haven’t been heard.<br />
We are social workers.<br />
Briana Hardman, West Virginia <strong>University</strong><br />
Loneliness we may feel.<br />
A goodbye that burns<br />
Versus a hello that heals.<br />
Safe is the feeling <strong>of</strong> being whole<br />
Rough times may come, but strength we own.<br />
Hello my hero, welcome home.<br />
Samuel D. Smith, West Virginia <strong>University</strong><br />
Oh, for a field and a solitary tree, beneath which to sit and, for a long time-- --not to think.<br />
Jed Metzger, Nazareth College<br />
Being Present<br />
See, I know what I want to do.<br />
Rather, I know how I want to be, when we are together.<br />
I know that you know when I am with you, when I feel you.<br />
Truth is, it is harder to do than to say, like many things I guess,<br />
So I tune everything else out and deeply focus,<br />
So I can be present, with you.
Rich Furman, Washington <strong>University</strong>, St. Louis<br />
Trotting race <strong>of</strong> time<br />
Third class train tickets do not buy seats the night shift from Mexicali to Mexico, sickness means<br />
little to those whose lives depend upon the relief <strong>of</strong> hard wood bench and fantasy foam.<br />
Airless, smoky cars packed like dirty tired chickens in mobile coop bellowing soot and steam,<br />
sluggish chugging down Senora dessert.<br />
Climb scalding ro<strong>of</strong>, anchor yourself with belt, watch the sky and cactus pass like dark crippled<br />
gunslingers.<br />
Discarded cars deserted oil drums<br />
garbage bags piled to the sky.<br />
Power plants spell progress to the poor, unknowing effects <strong>of</strong> future fraud unspoken.<br />
Scramble down quickly with tunnel ahead, hide between boxcar gut-wrenching rumble.<br />
Young mother watches you through window, gentle eyes yearn weary sad pity.<br />
Sliding the door open, pushing past bodies asleep standing, crammed into corner, the few<br />
awake stare shyly at burnt skin, conductor calls next stop, shanty town mother ambles forward,<br />
her fading form into abandoned waste, into trotting race <strong>of</strong> time.<br />
Jean Jones, <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Alabama<br />
W<strong>here</strong> do I Dump my Trash when I am the Landfill?<br />
People <strong>of</strong> different races and ages bringing problems, seeking solutions.<br />
If not found, their lives may be filled with pollutions.<br />
Lack <strong>of</strong> Resources, Regulations, Policies, Piles and piles <strong>of</strong> Paperwork with deadlines to meet.<br />
Always Ethnical, Always on Call, and not getting the proper amount <strong>of</strong> sleep.<br />
Wait! Take a deep breath, Recycle all that Trash, take time to exercise, renew your faith,<br />
connect with peers or take a vacation. Don't delay, Get started today!<br />
Remember, a Social Worker is valuable and a necessity to bring people<br />
Hope and a little Sunshine to brighten a Dark Day!
Pamela Correll, The <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Iowa</strong><br />
The Therapist's Goodbye<br />
Broken hearts and broken lives<br />
Tears <strong>of</strong> shame and lost goodbyes<br />
Are they yours or are they mine?<br />
Woven together over time<br />
The mosaic blends and breaks and shines<br />
you gave me more than I gave you<br />
Your stories sacred birds that flew<br />
Together we gave them wings - when not<br />
I pray we both learned something new.<br />
When it began I was broken too<br />
You healed me as much as I healed you.<br />
Janna Traeger, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo<br />
Underprivileged, poor, and weak, They feel their future is so bleak.<br />
We social workers give them a helping hand, Taking on problems both little and grand.<br />
I promise you, you can have my trust, We will mend the problems in a world so unjust.<br />
I will give you my best and give you my all, If we both see it through we will not fall.<br />
I only want to see you succeed, I’ll do what I can to meet your need.<br />
Although I know I can’t fix it all, I promise you I will be t<strong>here</strong> when you call.<br />
Barbara Madson, The <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Iowa</strong><br />
Mending<br />
She's been doing the mending, darning the holes<br />
Left by the wear <strong>of</strong> generations before<br />
Patiently threading the needle each day<br />
Hoping the vision will not go away<br />
While she's doing the mending, patching the souls<br />
Of the people she knew in the lives gone before
Trevor Taggesell, CAL POLY SAN LUIS OBISPO<br />
I’ll assure you now that you have my trust.<br />
And we’ll tend to matters in the way that we must.<br />
We’ll work together you and I.<br />
To see this cause is justified.<br />
Respect and worth you will receive.<br />
The sky is the limits when you and I believe.<br />
I can’t promise you victory. I can only give my best.<br />
But if we stick it out, we can win this test.<br />
Haley Houle, CAL POLY SAN LUIS OBISPO<br />
All I want to do is help Will they be insane?<br />
All I want is for them to feel normal.<br />
Will they be addicted?<br />
All I want is for them to feel control.<br />
Will they be elderly?<br />
All I want is for them to feel satisfied.<br />
Will they be poor?<br />
All I want is for them to feel stable.<br />
Will they be dishonest?<br />
All I want for them be truthful.<br />
Will they be lost?<br />
All I want is for them to feel found.<br />
All I want to do is help.<br />
Melissa Buckles-Haley, Loras and Loyola<br />
I am hungry and barely make enough to cover the rent each month.<br />
You give me a list <strong>of</strong> food pantries and help me fill out a food stamps application.<br />
YOU SPEAK FOR ME.<br />
I have difficulty expressing my feelings in a healthy way and so I hurt one <strong>of</strong> my children and<br />
now have to have them taken away from me so they are safe until I learn to be their Mom.<br />
I want to be a better parent.<br />
You help me find therapy and an anger management group.<br />
Making sure I follow the judge’s rules so I can get my kids back.
Rachel Valencia, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo<br />
Not Yet a Social Worker<br />
I am a poor college student<br />
And I am privileged<br />
Because my parents are middle class<br />
But I am not a social worker<br />
I take sociology classes<br />
And I learn about many things<br />
Like race, class, poverty, and gender<br />
But I am not a social worker<br />
I work in a store<br />
And I serve people<br />
Old, young, white, black, privileged and poor But I am not a social worker<br />
I am a person<br />
And I observe people<br />
My roommates, my friends, my family, and strangers But I am not a social worker<br />
I am more than all <strong>of</strong> these things<br />
I am a daughter, a sister, a woman<br />
A friend and a helper<br />
But I am not a social worker<br />
Not yet.<br />
But I could be.<br />
I could be a counselor, a therapist<br />
A listener, a believer, a supporter, and more But I am not Because I am not a social worker<br />
But I will be.
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