Social Worker - You have a story and I an ear - Poetry

by Nia Johnson, LGSW

I am not a baby snatcher

I don’t just give out food stamps every month

My purpose is not to be a paid snitch

Rather, the stitch to society’s fabric

The reinforcer of good habits

The doer

The mover

Whistle blower to injustice

I am a must have

Essential to societies’ existence

I see the beauty in who others declare as useless

Bilingual in my own right

I am a medium for the seemingly uncouth

The conduit

from gutters to board rooms

The block to the court room

Prisons to the President

Some see us as heaven sent

And to others we’re a bother

But trust that I’m gon’ scream and holla ‘til my clients get their share

And we aren’t in it just because we care

We are here because we need to be

Because it’s a calling and we answered

Because we’d rather hear someone say they were falling and we caught them rather than saying they fell alone

Because there are people without homes and jobs

Because sometimes we are the only people to acknowledge a client’s presence

Looking them in the eye to say you matter

You have a story and I an ear

You see I am not a baby snatcher

I am evidence that there’s work to be done

And we won’t stop ‘til the battle is won

I am not a baby snatcher

I, am a social worker

Nia Johnson, LGSW, is a Baltimore, Maryland, native. She earned a Master's degree in Social Work from Morgan State University and currently serves as an adjunct professor and field liaison at Morgan State University’s School of Social Work.