There were so very many thingsThat moved my heartTodayIn one direction or another: There were timesMy smile reached past my earsAnd perhaps to my toes There were timesMy smile falteredJust a little bitI heard it crackRight along with a fewPieces of my heart There were timesMy smile held firmIn the enoughOf now.
Tag Archives: poetry
Poetry Month: Piece of Mind*
I sit on the floor, legs splayed,Jigsaw pieces scatteredMy work is cut out for me. Most people open just oneBut I wonder where the funIs in that. Take out one box, two boxes,SixDump the pieces out and See how it comes together. You say you like to sort for EdgesColorsPatternsGood luck with that. It wouldContinue reading “Poetry Month: Piece of Mind*”
#SOL20 Day 29: Word Casserole
I started today with a bucket full of words: I trounced through the house with it overfull, sloshing,Spent a few on the phone with my mom,A few more with my sister,Then held out pretty fullUntil I got to my school work:Email upon email, text upon text, I found myselfRooting through, huntingFor only the best onesAndContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 29: Word Casserole”
#SOL20 Day 20: Does Anyone Else Feel
Does anyone else feel, she wondered, Like a washcloth wrung within an inch of its life? Like a running shoe, its insole black with sweat and impact? Like the sponge that’s done one too many hand-washings? Like that garbage bag after someone stuffed that one. Last. Thing. In? Like the couch cushion, enduring flop afterContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 20: Does Anyone Else Feel”
#SOL20 Day 19: Shades of Silence
She sad amid the silence, and between the breath and stillness around her, she realized That there are so very many shades of silence: The tight, cold waiting to see what that noise in the night was, The prickle-eared awareness of what children are up to on the opposite end of the house, The suddenContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 19: Shades of Silence”
#SOL20 Day 8: Signs of Spring
I always love that first day I start to notice signs of spring. Here’s a little old thing I wrote to celebrate. The sun whispers to the spring soil,“Come out, my friends, it’sTime to play!” Is it that they don’t hear?Are they still cold,HidingWaiting afraid forWinter to pass?Who will be the first to break forth?NotContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 8: Signs of Spring”
Poetry, Found
If you had asked me today whether or not writing poetry should be on my to-do list, I might have laughed at you. But knowing that the universe has a way of conspiring, and knowing that grocery list poetry is a thing in this world, I felt compelled. What I loved were the ways thisContinue reading “Poetry, Found”
When Poems Find Me
Sometimes a poem strikes me, and I’m able to write it in the moment. I get an idea for an image, a phrase or a metaphor, and I just can’t help myself. Other poems are more coy. They want me to write them, but maybe I have too much to say and don’t know howContinue reading “When Poems Find Me”
March: Blowing in Like a Poem
So many little miracles happened for me today. I got a hug from a reserved second grader. A tricky third grade class was beautifully behaved. And this morning the world brought me a seed for a poem, which I carried in my pocket and thought about through the morning. And when my fifth graders heldContinue reading “March: Blowing in Like a Poem”
Right Poem, Wrong Assignment
Today I had my fourth graders write about something small, taken for granted, or unappreciated. We started with a poem I wrote and shared about lowly feet. Then it was time for the kids and me to get cracking. I meant to do the assignment along with them. I really did. But I couldn’t thinkContinue reading “Right Poem, Wrong Assignment”
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 