LL Bean flannel
(New England is in my blood)
and will keep us warm
So Pretty
poetry
A Gift from 2020
a personal gift
from her aunt, for Sweet Sixteen
ripped open, stolen
how dark can it get?
two Honduran hurricanes,
pandemic, no school?
and now birthday gifts
being stolen from our porch
while we sit like sheep?
Heartstrings
yes, he can smile
with a photographer’s touch
the magic comes out
Pink Limbs
sometimes the sunrise
is the best part of the day
(before darkness falls)
Opposing Views
lovely innocence
found in the curious eyes
of a young child
now masked by sorrow
even with her birthday gift
her eyes say it all
Sweet Sixteen in a Bittersweet Year
the day starts with tests
to secure her friends’ safety
in this COVID year
negative is good
whoever thought it’d be good
to be negative?
and so, she smiles
and we blow up the balloons
(losing one to wind)
and the four friends come
and she’s happy for just a day
of this lonely life
At the Right Moment
darkness surrounds us
but a few words can bring light
where it’s hard to find
No Photo for This
images compared:
teaching online, in person
in the same classroom
Pandemic Teaching
One of my students just called me and in his very broken English told me I upset him in class today because I wasn’t on screen the whole time. He was in tears and his father yelled at him. Why wasn’t I on screen the whole time?
Because I was walking around my classroom trying to check in on the twelve kids who showed up today. Because I was trying to get two kids who have done zero work because of their utter terror of technology finally logged into our textbook.
Because I was making a tiny bit of progress with two kids, and breaking another.
Because it’s 2020 and I don’t know how to teach anymore. 💔
But I wore this mask and put up the new background fireworks to celebrate a candidate who literally has the power to change or save their lives and their families’ lives, and I smiled.
So why am I crying now?
What Clouds?
even with cold temps
flowers can burst from seedlings
sewn by human hands
Step Write Up 