This post is part of the weekly Slice of Life challenge from Two Writing Teachers. Check them out!
Today is a day
where I consider
all of the things I might blog about,
the many marbles rolling, clicking, bumping
around the ring of my brain:
1.
The to-do lists
and to-do lists
and to-do lists
that rack up in notebooks
and sticky notes
and phone reminders
2.
Children who discover,
quite accidentally,
that the right question opens us up
to big ideas, philosophy
our premise for life
THE premise for life
3.
The need to tell certain children
that there is such a thing
as a hypothetical question –
one that neither requires
nor desires
an answer
4.
The kids who complain
through smiles
that interaction with big ideas
breaks their brains
as I smile and offer up
another idea
to deepen the fracture
5.
The assurance that
getting stuck in our writing
is just more proof that we’re
real writers,
and the people who insist that
we should always have fluent ideas
might do well to
put a sock in it
6.
The power of persimmons
to reinstill gratitude
for simple delights and kindnesses,
for a calling that
twines my life with others
Perhaps each of these ideas
will find its own way,
asserting itself as a longer entry:
a poem, perhaps, a journal
or photo essay
Until then,
I’ll listen to the rolls,
the clicks,
the clacks
and wait
for my brain
to just
settle
down.
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 
So many slices in one — and so much truth in each part. I loved this!
Thanks! I guess that’s hopefully what our writing can do for one another – bring a little more truth into the world…?
Love #4 especially! Your list is a great way to keep track of ideas for posts.
Thanks! I wasn’t sure how this post was going to turn out to begin with, but I’m happy with it. Well…as happy as any of us can be with the writing we put out into the world, right? =))
These are all great topics that lend themselves quite well for blogging. I especially like #5. Most of the time my thoughts aren’t fluent as evidenced by my posts. It is important for students to know that a piece doesn’t need to be fully formed and written in our heads before we put pen to paper or fingers to keypad.
Thanks. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but you’re right. Maybe I’ll share this post with them so they can see for themselves…
I wish my marbles would fall in line like this! It seems you’ve captured the essence of life here; we’re always figuring it all out. I especially am going to roll this marble around for a bit:
that there is such a thing
as a hypothetical question –
one that neither requires
nor desires
an answer
Thanks, Cathy! And you are right. We are ALWAYS working to figure things out. And just when we think we’ve turned the corner, there goes the bag of marbles again =))