To the student at St. Francis Prep

To a student at St. Francis Prep


When I asked you what your hobbies were, you replied,

"I'm learning to write with my left hand."

A few of the other students laughed.

I thought it was maybe the best hobby I'd heard of yet.

What happens, I wondered, when you take
the other half of yourself, the weaker half,
and focus your attention there?

To a student at St. Francis Prep

When I asked you what your hobbies were, you replied,

"I'm learning to write with my left hand."

A few of the other students laughed.

I thought it was maybe the best hobby I'd heard of yet.

What happens, I wondered, when you take

the other half of yourself, the weaker half,

and focus your attention there.

We so often neglect our left sides.

The word sinister comes from

the latin and means "on the left side."

What would your left hand be

if it was held in equal regard to your right?

That was sophomore year.

Now I have you as a senior

and I asked you if you had ever learned

to write with your left hand?

You said, nah, you gave that up.

You looked sad and tired.

It made me feel sad and tired too.

I remembered all of your spark back then.

I wanted you to get your ambition back.

I wanted to go back in time and shout encouragement

loud enough to drown out the other students' laughter.

When you gave up learning to write left-handed

what did you lose?