To all my teachers -- with love

Mentors, like guardian angels
sent down to earth,
Watching over us as sentinels
and guiding us through bramble.
Teaching us not just
letters and numbers
but the lessons of life.
Behind the mask of severity
lurks the face of a friend
reaching out to us
as long-time comrades.
Trusting us to the core
and goading us to fight
tooth-and-nail
against the darkness of ignorance.
Hail! Bend your knees
Before the angels of divine understanding
with the crown of knowledge
adorning their glorious brows;
their radiating aura dazzle the eyes
like a wrecking ball of fire
consuming everything
in its quest to ignite
young minds.

I shudder to think,
to find myself without
Wings of tender care above me.
A sea of gratitude for an ocean of love
I wish to repay.
Thanks a lot
for what you've made me today.

(on the occasion of Teachers' Day)