Category Archives: poetry

Saturday Poems

March 23, 2024haiku, poetry, Reflections on coaching, Reflections on teaching, Slice of Lifeonathought

6-word
Saturday goes quickly, thankful for Sunday

Haiku
Chore filled Saturday
Clean house, cold dog walk, Target
Mind full of unknowns

Limerick
There once was a mid career teacher
Who wondered what decisions would reach her
So much had been discussed
She didn’t know what to trust
Since trust was no longer her best feature

Rispetto
Friday night, Saturday on the horizon
Expectations for accomplishments, no less!
Then Saturday dawns, reality flies in
Do only priorities – no extra stress!
It’s the weekend, you know you deserve to chill
If you don’t take time to rest, you’ll soon get ill
Vacuum, laundry? Sure. But, big projects can wait
You need to rest, and wonder about your fate

Naani
I wander the book aisle
Stare at the titles
Wonder
Which books will I read to my class next year?

Sunny Sunday

March 18, 2024Family, poetry, Slice of Lifeonathought

A sunny Sunday
might remind you that
even a
short
walk in the crisp air
surrounded by blue sky and
trees still winter-brown
near the cold water
is like a breath of
spring

it
won’t
be winter forever

it won’t

and most importantly,
even teenagers
need
to skip rocks

Questions (for you, IF you’ve ever been a teacher)

March 12, 2024poetry, Reflections on coaching, Reflections on teaching, Slice of Lifeonathought

You know how when you
Know better you
Do better?

I’m just wonder if after that,
knowing new stuff and
doing that new better stuff…

What happens?

Because
someone is sure to tell you to
Know a
New
thing …
Would doing that new thing be
even
better?

What if the new better thing is now actually the old thing you did before you knew better and did better?

I know what you want to tell me.
It starts with an Re
ends with a search

Okay! I’m in!
Research …

That means we will be using
peer-reviewed research for
all
the
things, right?

Hello?

Sunday Poems, on the End of Spring Break

March 10, 2024haiku, poetry, Slice of Lifeonathought

6-word
Spring break’s over, Sunday scaries begin.

Haiku
Sunshine breaks Snow squalls
Blue skies deceptively cold
Clouds come again now

Limerick
There once was a teacher feeling nothing but dread
She couldn’t get organized for the week ahead!
Work was the right thing to do –
She’s supposed to do it too –
But she watched a movie instead

Ballad
Though spring break is ending
And work will start so soon
I can’t help but keep relaxing
So these last hours won’t’ be in ruin

Elegy
O break! My break! My spring break is done
The relaxing is over now, our freedom reduced to none
I am resigned to set alarms, drink coffee still in a sleepy fog
and I’ll go to work with a smile, walking the halls instead of my dog
But O couch! My couch!
Where in the corner I love to read
I promise I’ll be back, since more relaxing I surely need

Ode
Ode to Spring Break

We anticipated your start
and now regret your end
roadtrips filled our heart
and relaxing was our best friend

Your days were full of warm sun
until the rain, and today’s snow squall
It’s like the weather knew you were done
And spring break’s spring never happened at all!

Spring break, Could you stay another weak?
It’s just a small, polite request
A tiny bit of scheduling, a calendar tweak
That would surely be the best

It’s just because I love you
that I’m asking you to stay —
Or send a big storm, it’s the least you can do
and they’ll have to call a snow day.

Too Late

January 30, 2024Pets, poetry, Slice of Lifeonathought

Part of Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life

It’s too late to slice
It’s too late
There’s no time to tell you
even a
seed
of a moment

I was going to tell you about the girl who exclaimed,
You have an UNO lunchbox?
and I had to dissapoint her by showing her that no, it was just a lunchbox that says POW!
She had been so excited
And now I want an UNO lunchbox

Oh – and there were the boys
lined up
perpendicular to the recess door
like a race starting line
a few minutes before the whistle blew
jut waiting
What time is it?
they yelled after I asked them why they didn’t want to
enjoy the last few minutes of recess
It was 1:59

But it’s too late now
Too late even
for those mini moments

I can’t write about how I was going to go to bed early
but my to do list said
Nope
Nope
Nope
Double Nope

And now my dog is curled on the couch
squeezing me in
and there’s no time to tell you
even a bit about his wrinkly neck

Free write

January 20, 2024poetry, TeachersWriteonathought

I’ve been doing free writes with students for a long time, decades I guess.

I’m now at the point in my teaching career where I can say I’ve done something for decades, I guess.

But I am terrible at them myself. I am an in-the-moment-editor. I am a sharing kind of writer.

But my therapist says that free writing is a good way to help myself let go of anger.

Not that I don’t have some perfectly good reasons to be angry, she assures me.

It’s just that whole pesky thing about how anger only hurts your own self.

So she gave me directions, and I typed them in a note and now I think they are a poem. And not just any poem, but one that may help just about anyone who has a few minutes, a pen, some paper, and any emotions they want to let go of.

Free Writing
The first rule
Is that you can’t censor yourself 
At all
It’s all over the place
Absolutely no censors
Ignore the censors
Just write whatever comes out
What’s written down is 
simultaneous

Second rule
You have to write 
Not type 
Keep your pencil moving at all times
Don’t stop the pencil
If you don’t know what to write, scribble 

Do this for about 10 minutes
No erasing
Grab 10 sheets of paper
Set a timer
And just start

If you stop to think
You are censoring

Then sit with yourself 
Afterwords

After
Words

It’s Not Just Acorns

December 13, 2023poetry, Slice of Lifeonathought

A day late, but part of Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life

Sometimes the acorns are crunchier under foot than other times
ever put your foot down expecting
the crunch
but instead all you get is a mushy bend?
I think about you every time I see an acorn though
especially as I decide to risk the bendy failure
try the crunch

One time you asked me where I got my grey fleece coat
said you wanted a fleece like it
that would cover your butt
so when I put that coat on today
I thought of you
it has a broken zipper now —
on my list to get fixed

TJ Maxx
that’s where I got it
but I don’t think you ever found one
I don’t know
it was a long time ago
and you ran out of time
for fleece jackets

Not to make it about me, but
how strange to have such a good friend through such different phases of your life
die
before the next phase of your life
how odd to have someone
gone
before the arc of your friendship got a chance to continue

Sometimes I think
wow
you never knew that happened
you weren’t here for that crazy time
you were gone before that changed
you didn’t get to see that he turned out to be an asshole
then I realize you probably knew
-know
all the things

It’s naive
I would be
naive
if I thought these were fresh thoughts
about death and grief
I’m not
naive
I know I’m
lucky to have not known more
grief

You used to read my words and email back
I wonder what you would write for this
you would say
amen
well-said
and by the way the arc is still there, friend
let’s walk and crunch acorns together
also, get that zipper fixed – want me to take it in to the place that fixed my zipper in 2005?

I closed my eyes
thought what if you can just
ask for someone’s spirit to come?
I thought of you, said your name in my head
and I wondered if you were sitting on the edge of my couch
but I didn’t want to open my eyes to check
is that faith?

March 24 Roses are Red and Other Inspiring Poems…

March 24, 2023poetry, Slice of Lifeonathought

I’m writing every day of March for the Slice of Life Challenge at Two Writing Teachers

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I don’t feel like writing
Sorry, but it’s true

There once was a writer who was tired
She wasn’t feeling at all inspired
But it was the month to write
So she didn’t fight
She just sat down and did what was required

In six words, I am done.

March 22 Today Was A Day

March 22, 2023Family, poetry, Reflections on coaching, Reflections on teaching, Slice of Lifeonathought

Today was a learning day
a long day
a listening day

Today was a win-a-raffle day
a wonder-what-the-doctor-will-say day
a wait, what? day

Today was a travel day
a talk-to-college-daughter day
a tell-me-more-about-it day

Today was a a sit-all-day-long day
a surprise dinner with my boys day
a special-day-we-don’t-celebrate-any-more day

Today was a hump day Wednesday
a heavy day
a hello-glass-of-wine day

Today was
as they say,
a day

March 20 Juicy Markers

March 20, 2023poetry, Reflections on teaching, Slice of Lifeonathought

I’m writing every day of March for the Slice of Life Challenge at Two Writing Teachers

We were preparing for our poetry garden in Writers’ Club today, by painting some rocks with pictures. Soon we will write our poetry words on rocks, but today was about decorating a few to leave our mark.

There were just a couple paint markers that still needed to be shaken and pressed, so I did that as I monitored the painting and talked with the kids. Then I started to realize I should be writing down what they were saying. There always seems to be a story or poem hiding in the things kids say.

Rock Painting with Elementary Kids:

I need to go over all of this-the colors are very dull
My marker is too juicy
OOPS! I didn’t mean to do that.
I think I’m done
Do you have anything to add? Because this is an amazing blue.

This is one day only!
I should have done a sugar cookie
There’s interference in the universe causing problems
My dad would say “Where’s the coral?” He’s a coral scientist

What are you doing?
I’m writing things everyone says – a found poem story!
…Ugh! Teachers!

It’s a portal to another universe
A new dimension

I’m serious
This is so juicy

I want the markers so bad
I’m not saying I’m asking for one. . . but I am.