Humor.It’s all timing and audience. The feeling of having a jokethat is absolutelyhystericalbut having to one to tell it towell that’s rough. I mean, I knowwhat I’m saying is WILDLY inappropriate.Maybe even dark.It’s alsoreally freakin’ FUNNY. And I can’t even laugh as loud as I would if I heard that joke myself because who laughsContinue reading “Poetry Month Day 9: Humor, Badly Timed”
Author Archives: Lainie Levin
Poetry Month Day 8: On Cockroaches
When you get down to it,We really should likeCockroachesMore than we do.They are evolution’s rock stars,Shining beacons ofPersistence and carrying onAnd all that jazz. I should offer nothing but respectButThe very thought of them scuttling(I can’t picture them doing anything but scuttling)On floorsOver countersInMyPANTRYIs enough to send mePast the heebiesInto the full-on jeebies AndI knowContinue reading “Poetry Month Day 8: On Cockroaches”
Poetry Month Day 7: A Little Mischief
Today, I took the poem I wrote yesterday, printed up a copy, and pasted it up on the wall right next to the chocolate stash that was my inspiration. I had FUN with it. So…tomorrow, and maybe the next day (or the next), I’m going to put up poems in random spots for my colleaguesContinue reading “Poetry Month Day 7: A Little Mischief”
Poetry Month Day 6: On the Natural (Dis)Order
You could say this poem is a continuation of my reflections for the Slice of Life challenge about the need for a strong, steady chocolate stash in a school. I stand by what I wrote, even if my observations this week speak to the contrary. Clearlythere is a problemin our world:there is some kind ofimbalancewithinContinue reading “Poetry Month Day 6: On the Natural (Dis)Order”
Sunday Sit-Down #12: The Floodgates Open
Each Sunday, I’m working my way through my experiences with race. I’ll share stories and memories from throughout my life. I know I’ll encounter moments of growth that I wish I could relive. I’ll also have to think back on choices that I wish I could remake. Given that April is also poetry month, I’mContinue reading “Sunday Sit-Down #12: The Floodgates Open”
Poetry Month Day 3: On Birthdays
Birthdaysshould be markedby cake and ice cream,Instagram posts and Facebook wishesOr texts, the kind with heartsAnd balloonsAnd silly memes butthis time next time every time I’d settleforanything that fills the absence. I draft and scribble out poems in my head: a catalog of today’s distractions our conversation in the sun today the four times IContinue reading “Poetry Month Day 3: On Birthdays”
Poetry Month Day 2: Now it Makes Sense
The last dayshave feltlike my shoes were on the wrong feet,like the stuck wheelon a shopping cartor the rattle at the front endof the carthat has to mean something,if I could figure out what I can’t for the life of meunderstandwhy words won’t come,why they feel so heavy and slow,why they sink beyond my graspwhyContinue reading “Poetry Month Day 2: Now it Makes Sense”
Poetry Month Day 1: Untitled
is what you call a poemwhen you sit down to writeand the words flutterevery which-waydespite yourpleas toland is when you have just wrestledmetaphor to withininches of its life,nailing it downtying itto a chair* is for words wriggling too fastwhen you try to capturethem, but they keep onsquirming away,writhing outof yourhands so you just shrug yourContinue reading “Poetry Month Day 1: Untitled”
Slice of Life Challenge 2021 Day 31: Begin, End
Today marks the final day of the Slice of Life challenge. I’ve deeply enjoyed the challenge of writing every day this month. I’ve grown as a writer and as a human in ways I’ll still be thinking about for weeks to come. I tried to capture how I’m feeling on the last day of this challenge. IContinue reading “Slice of Life Challenge 2021 Day 31: Begin, End”
Slice of Life 2021, Day 30: Here I Am
Today marks Day 30 of the Slice of Life challenge. Join me as I work to write every day in March – and beyond! For T. You inspire me. In the middle of a highly scheduled day In the middle of a hard-fought moment of plan time In the middle of a to-do list that has grownContinue reading “Slice of Life 2021, Day 30: Here I Am”
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 