Because I ❤️ Jack Kerouac and his beautiful words
The summer chair rocking by itself
In the blizzard
Category Archives: free verse
#526- the summer of… (self- reflective free verse)
As summer vacation rapidly approaches we are hurriedly wrapping up baseball, 2nd grade and hopefully chilly days.
This has been quite a year for us, tumultuous but good.
We have learned more about ourselves as a family, a man, woman and now an eight year-old boy.
We have learned more about what matters to us and who matters to us.
We have learned more about our wishes and hopes for our future and our day-to-day lives.
We have learned about where we want to live (not 100% sure yet) and about what we want to do ( not 100% sure yet)
We have learned that summer is always good and have decided that this will be the summer of…..
Summer 2012 – the summer of…
The summer of… NOT dragging my child to this camp or that when all he really wants to do is stay home and play
The summer of… Stuart Smalley- say it with me “Because I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggonit, people like me!”
The summer of… NOT spending time with people I don’t like
The summer of… spending the day at the beach and NOT feeling guilty because I am not being useful
The summer of… homemade “camps” that my boy is interested in and excited about
The summer of…realizing that time spent enjoying myself is not wasted
The summer of… saying “Who cares about the Joneses (SP?)”
The summer of… eating ALL the food I grow in my garden and not letting it go to waste
The summer of… shutting out the noisy world and exchanging it for play and time spent in the backyard with my husband, son, dog, cat and parents
The summer of… all three of us “camping” in the backyard
The summer of… departing from the beaten path and making our own
The summer of… reading whole books aloud with my boy (a habit we lost over the school year)
The summer of… traveling to places we have talked about for years
The summer of… peace, and letting go and family bike rides
The summer of… fun and possibility – because that is always what summer means to me
I wish for all to have their very own version of the summer of…
Filed under free verse
#404- unemployment lessons learned
Last February, my superintendent called me into one of my principal’s offices to tell me they were eliminating my (gifted and talented/enrichment teacher in three towns ) position and that I would not have a job in that district after June 30th. At the time I felt relief, shock, devastation, fear and grief and I still had to work the rest of the school year.
So I took a lot of sick days and with the help of Twitter, this blog, yoga, my dog, family and a few close friends I managed to make it through the school year – feeling mortified and so uncomfortable as everyone expressed how unfair it was and their sorrow to see me leave.
I am now officially entering my seventh month of unemployment-
I have taken the rare opportunity to reflect and discovered a few things I wanted to share-
- Time is a luxury that should NOT be taken for granted
- I have spent so much less and appreciated what I have so much more
- There will never be enough money
- It makes my son feel safe knowing that I am at home in the town we live in while he is at school every day instead of working far away.
- I really like my house, cat, dog, fish, yard, stuff
- Idle hands are the devil’s playthings
- Unemployment is great and horrible at the same time
- Many people are out and about during the day doing God knows what – I had no idea! maybe lunch?
- I have been in an elementary school classroom for a long time
- There are many things in the world I am totally unqualified for and they seem to hire all the time.
- Necessity is the mother of invention.
- A bad job is a bad job and no matter how hard you try it will infect most areas of your life.
- The job I thought I would be at a loss for I am relieved to have lost.
- I have developed a system of reciprocity with my local beach I pick up trash, it gives me sea glass.
- People need to stop and examine the trajectory of their lives every so often- even if they have to be forced into it by unemployment.
- I finally feel the old spark of me returning
- I am happier than I have been in many years.
Thank you for reading
Filed under free verse
#96- a diversion
Used to…..
Used to not be afraid
Used to teach Gifted and Talented
Used to live in the South
Used to smoke
Used to be afraid of the blue oval rug in my room, because Jaws lived there
Used to think I’d grow up to be taller
Used to be unscathed
Used to be physically strong and mentally weak
Used to love those people in the past
Used to think I’d grow up and have it all together
Used to not understand love
Used to think I had all the answers
Used to float through life
Used to…..
Filed under free verse
Savage Haiku 