If I were your teacher
I would beg you
To insist to fight with me
And not let me get away
With anything
No matter how I may sound
I am really only mortal
And I love you very much
And feel responsible for you
I am not always right
We depend on each other
The old and the young
To learn from each other
If I were your teacher
I would beg you
To ask me why, for example
Your history books
Are the way they are
It is my responsibility also
To give you
As true a version
Of your history
As I can
Since it is through your sense
Of your own history
That you arrive at your identity
My responsibility
Is to teach you to think
This is not any easy thing to do
If I want you to think
I must teach you
To think about everything
I must teach you that
There is a reason
For everything you do
And you must find that reason
If I were you
I would put me on the spot
Ask me the most difficult questions
That you can
And I will not be able
To answer them
But my responsibility is to hear them
And when you ask your question
Any question
You begin to know more
About what you really think
That's all I have to say
Now you're gonna ask me questions (laughter)