Poetry Month Day 1: Easing In with an Etheree

Happy poetry month! Throughout April, I’ll be crafting poetry every day. There may be days I’m inspired to do something beautiful, brilliant, sparkling in its craft.

There may be other days I’m writing to keep my wheels moving. Today is such a day.

For today, an Etheree: a poem that works from one to ten syllables (and, sometimes, back again):

on
the first
of April,
I stand, looking
at the rest of the
month, wondering if I
have it within myself to
keep writing, this time all in verse
(after all…I always say it’s my
preferred method of expression), so one
would think I’d leap right in, ready to
take the world on, line after line
but there are times (more often
than not) where I’d like a
moment of silence,
a retreat from
the need for
any
words.

Slice of Life Day 31: Summing Up

For today’s writing, I have to thank Cindy from Ms. Chiubooka Writes, who actually took inspiration from an earlier post of mine. In this post, she looks back over her years in the monthly challenge. Her writing was so insightful I had to think about it for myself.

This is only my fifth year doing the challenge, but it’s enough time for me to see changes and patterns. The act of writing each March has given a window into myself at the time.

2025. This year, just participating in the challenge is a win for me. The fact that I’m still standing after a humdinger of a past year is a minor miracle. So it doesn’t surprise me that many of my posts are lighter in nature, with room for reflection and sincerity to creep in. (As it does.) I don’t think I’m far enough from this year to reflect on it, so I’ll leave that to Future Me.

2024 was a year where the theme seemed to be the discomfort of writing every day. I won’t call it whining, but…it is what it is. More often than not, I navigated that discomfort by composing poetry. I don’t know what it is about poetry that allows for a more open channel of expression. Maybe I’ll dig into that sometime. Maybe that’s what therapists are for.

2023. Hoo boy. My mom underwent brain surgery, I was a representative on a highly contentious union negotiation cycle, and life was, to speak plainly, a sack of bananas. I have no posts for March beyond the 12th, and I feel zero guilt about it. Funny thing is, other than a poem alluding to my hope for a snow day, my posts give absolutely no indication of what I’m actually going through. Maybe that’s another thing therapists are for.

2022. The one thing I notice more than anything during this year is how often I reported on what was happening in my classroom. I don’t think I’ve done as much of that recently, and I think I want to go back to doing it more. Plus, my students get so tickled to see their thinking showcased, and they love knowing there are folks out there in the world responding to what they contribute.

2021. My first year as a Slicer! It’s a month full of a mish-mosh of stories from life, poems, and musings as a writer. It’s also during a time in my life I was examining my own relationship with race and identity through a series of what I called “Sunday Sit-Downs.” It’s amazing to me how deeply my early experiences and (mis-)understandings led to my current (and currently evolving) world view. Enter my therapist, yet again.

Through it all, I’ve seen the themes and patterns that run throughout – because if history has taught me anything, it’s that I make sense of the world by looking for themes. And metaphor. But if you’ve been a regular customer, you probably already knew that. So…what have I learned?

1. Sometimes this is hard.
2. Sometimes I don’t like my work.
3. And that’s okay.
4. There’s always amazing inspiration to be had from colleagues.
5. And my students.
6. Especially my students.
7. Fiction is my Waterloo, but I’ll keep trying.
8. My commitment to re-creating this experience for students has been my north star.
9. I’ve written some good stuff.
10. And some clunkers.
11. I’m beyond grateful to this writing community.
12. In more ways than I can count.


    Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!

    Slice of Life Day 30: Yes, and

    Earlier today, I went through some of my old posts (I’m saving those reflections for tomorrow) and I came across this yes/no writing format. I thought I’d pull it off the closet shelf, dust it off, and give it a go.

    Yes, I was happy to go out to breakfast with my family this morning.

    No, I don’t know how to order anything but my “usual:” scrambled eggs with salami (don’t knock it ’til ya tried it).

    Yes, I was more than happy to visit a friend with a new puppy this afternoon.

    No, my girlies were not happy I came home smelling of Other Dogs.

    Yes, I had a plan for dinner.

    No, I didn’t make it because there were so many leftovers in the fridge.

    Yes, I’m hoping for an early bedtime this evening.

    No, I probably won’t have one.

    Yes, tomorrow marks my return to school after spring break.

    No, I’m not stressing about it. Life’s too short.

    Yes, snow will fall sometime overnight.

    No, I will not wear my winter coat to school as a matter of principle.

    Yes, I think this is a really fun way to craft a post.

    No, I still can’t make it through without a million revisions and micro-edits…


    Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!

    Slice of Life Day 29: On Namesakes

    Daily writing prompt
    If you could have something named after you, what would it be?
    View all responses

    ooooo this looks like a fun prompt. I’m going with it!

    The Lainie Levin Honorary Storytelling Theater

    The Levin Weightlifting Complex for Teen Girls with Impostor Syndrome

    The Lainie Levin Homework Grading Corner at Starbucks

    Mount Lainieus: the tallest peak in Cook County, Illinois

    The Lainie: a deli sandwich with chopped liver, pastrami, pickles, and Russian dressing

    Legs by Levin: fitnesswear for Women of a Certain Age

    The Levin Escape Room for Toddler Parents

    …what am I not anxious to see named after me? People. It’s Jewish tradition to name babies after people who have passed on. So while the sentiment would theoretically be nice, I’m not a fan of the prerequisites.


    Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!

    Slice of Life Day 28: The Best Part

    Ask me what was best about today,

    And I could tell you it was a sunny day

    Or the crocuses in bloom

    Or a good workout

    Or a delightful dog walk

    But the best part, by far,

    Was having to set the table for four once again.

    It’s good to have my guy home, if only for a weekend…

    Slice of Life Day 27: On Yard Work

    Today,
    I was asked
    to help with the general clean-up of the yard.
    It’s…

    an annual thing, of course: getting
    flower beds
    clear
    for the season to come,

    And I can’t help
    but think
    back
    to that day
    in April,
    when we were cleaning the yard
    and the call came
    about my brother

    I know
    yard work needs doing, and
    I do it, and
    I’m still rooted
    in that moment
    every
    time

    And this year,
    as I worked my way
    around the side of the house,
    cleaning up the daylily bed,
    I cleared away the old growth,
    and I was surprised by
    the green shoots revealed beneath.

    I don’t know
    why I wasn’t expecting
    to see them –
    after all,
    hasn’t the weather been good? and
    isn’t it that time of year? and
    isn’t that the way of plants in spring? and
    isn’t that the way of spring? and

    I thought,

    Yard work is a poem,
    waiting to
    teach me
    I must
    (in good time, understand:
    winter is still winter)
    clear myself away
    to make room.


    Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!

    Slice of Life Day 26: Outside

    Yes,
    my house needs to be straightened up.

    Yes,
    the dog hair dust bunnies accumulate in the corners.

    Yes,
    the laundry calls.

    Yes,
    the weather is probably just shy of warm

    But
    the sun is shining

    And
    the dog wants to play fetch

    And
    the day is quiet

    And
    there’s a cardinal greeting me from the black walnut

    So
    what choice do I have

    But
    to sit and soak?

    Dogs laying in sunshine
    I was not alone in my sun worship today…

    Slice of Life Day 25: Mea Culpa

    Forgive me fellow writers, for I hath sinned:

    I hath written my Slices dutifully day by day.

    Yea, tho my fingers tippity-tapped their way across the keyboard to beget post after post, and lo! though I hath dwelt in enjoyment reading the honey-tongued comments of my colleagues, I hath failed thee.

    Alack, my comments, they art lacking. So I shall thereupon commence to making amends by clicking hither and yon, and spending my evening in response to all of thy wisdom…


    Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!

    Slice of Life Day 24: Growing Up

    Daily writing prompt
    When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?
    View all responses

    When I was five, all I really wanted to be was a big sister.

    But by the time I was seven, I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up: a TRUCK DRIVER. I mean, who wouldn’t want to travel the country, the object of every kid’s admiration and horn-honking gestures?

    By the time I was nine, I knew I wanted to be an archaeologist. My class had gone to a dig site (and even simulated our own!) and it sounded like the most exciting job on the planet.

    Until I was ten. By the time I was ten, I wanted to be an architect, because we did a unit on architecture and I thought it was cool what people could design.

    And then a storyteller. And then a lawyer. And then an entomologist.

    You’re seeing a pattern here, aren’t you? I’m guessing these tendencies laid the foundation for my lifelong career as a serial hobbyist.

    And then junior high and high school hit. Honestly, I didn’t want to do anything with my life, really, other than survive it.

    By the time senior year of high school came around, and it was time to look at colleges, I decided I wanted to be a high school English teacher so I could do for other kids what Ms. Stelmach did for me. (She needs to be the subject of her own post.)

    Cut to summer after freshman year of college. I was a secondary education major working a job at a sleep-away summer camp. I told someone my major, and they responded, “Oh. I thought I pegged you for working with the younger kids.”

    I had never thought about that. It set my wheels in motion.

    And by that fall, I switched my major to elementary education. I haven’t looked back since. I’m a public school lifer, and I’m proud of it.

    And what’s next? That’s still several years yet, but my guess is I’ll return somewhat to my younger inclinations: do something cool, get good at it, than do something else cool. Lather, rinse, repeat.

    There are worse things…


    Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!