T Minus 15 by Tara Temprano

Far, far away 

in a state known as Florida 

a teacher, curly hair coiffed

and an unforgettable smile, waved goodbye to thousands of American students 

poised in classrooms 

where television wheels squeaked 

as they rolled in 

so we could “experience history.” 

73 seconds  

I averted my eyes  

from the silly boys 

with strawberry red cheeks 

laughing at the dissonant noise 

and folded my hands 

on my wooden desk, its angled flip-top lid slanted at the perfect 45-degree angle so my notes could nestle inside. 

73 seconds 

All it took to quiet the students - her students a sound we never intended to hear. 

A cloud of fire and smoke  

we can still smell. 

A sadness of colossal magnitude 

creating a shadow of darkness 

for a mission with so much promise 

a space legacy tarnished 

as the prince of Camelot, wept alongside a nation inspired by a science teacher  

whose gift to the world  

became her work ethic 

and the memories she left behind 

inscribed in the scrolls of history. 

Being remembered for a tragedy  

freezes the time in a capsule of sadness.

Tara Temprano was raised in the suburbs of New Jersey by a Spanish-American father and Italian American mother. Both encouraged her in different ways. Her mother nurtured her love of reading and writing early on, and this led her to discover that poetry and books could sometimes say things we cannot. Her father's protective nature and gentle parenting style allowed her to understand the psyche of the masculine. Notebooks became her refuge, offering solace during both turbulent and joyful times, leading her to embrace the written word. She became an educator, imparting this knowledge to hundreds of students in her hometown of Hawthorne, NJ.