hidden behind mask
is my sixteen-year-old girl
(her pandemic grin)

i hope to win her
with walks, drives, conversations
just like the old days

hidden behind mask
is my sixteen-year-old girl
(her pandemic grin)

i hope to win her
with walks, drives, conversations
just like the old days

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?

here we are. winning.
by a margin way too slim.
at least we win her.


invading our walk
this kitty thinks she’s a dog
(Trump’s America)

but we’ll win it back
as i splash blue on two screens
for my kids to watch

your majority
is as fleeting as winter
during climate change

Vamos a ganar
with this American map
he knows nothing of

every moment counts
and he has read my soul here
with these three small words
walking history
in one of the oldest ‘hoods
same heartbreak, some hope



on this dreary day
plagued by plagues, wildfires
votes matter so much


all i need today:
my cooperative puppy
who just bit me once

because of the bone
i bribed him to sit still
he is now a Jedi

sunset petroglyph
lighting up our last night here
with teens who smile



