The Poetry of a Teaching Life
Author Spotlight – Stacie Kling
Stacie Kling is an educator and poet whose writing explores the emotional realities of teaching, childhood, and becoming. Drawing from lived classroom experience, her work gives voice to the moments educators carry quietly…bearing witness to students’ lives while holding space for empathy, truth, and human complexity. Her poetry honors teaching not just as a profession, but as an act of presence and care.
Here, we feature one of the poems from her book:
“Again: A Teacher’s Journey of Becoming“
CROCHET
For Valentine’s Day I made you all
tiny, crocheted hearts and
tied them onto Valentines.
I thought of each of you as I made them.
I knew 11-year-olds wouldn’t care about crocheted hearts.
I knew you wouldn’t even realize they were handmade.
I knew you’d toss them aside as you frantically sorted through your
Valentines to find the ones with the best treats attached (even though
you weren’t allowed to eat the candy until you got home).
I made them anyway.
But then you surprised me.
You rushed up to me with glowing eyes and held the tiny heart in front
of your own,
breathing “Did you MAKE this?” on a whispered sigh.
I said yes,
and you launched yourself at me with a hug.
And I tried not to let you see the tears in my eyes
as I hugged you back.
© 2026 Stacie Kling. All rights reserved.
This work may not be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission from the author, except for brief quotations in reviews or scholarly works.
About the Book
AGAIN: A Teacher’s Journey of Becoming
AGAIN is a poetry collection grounded in the lived experience of teaching—where hope and heartache coexist, and beginning again is both necessary and brave. Through reflective, narrative poems, Stacie Kling explores themes of burnout, resilience, witnessing, and growth, capturing the moments teachers carry long after the classroom is empty.
This book is for educators who return—day after day—not because it is easy, but because it matters. Available at amazon.com
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