March 18

little girl
you
with the eyes that gleam
the knowing smile
Eyebrows that tell a story

little face
Pink lips
Hair in your eyes
Brushed back with your wrist

you
With the funny voice
The sweetest kiss
The indomitable spirit

I could not love you more
If I tried

March 19

In chorus

For this moment
We are all
Like minded
Like voiced
Blending and unified
On one open-mouthed ahh

Eyes raised
Hearts raised
We work together to create

A note
A tone
A chord
A dream

When we walk out
Of this space
At 9:30
We will go back to our
Own lives
Own ideas
Politics
Jobs
Our own colored lenses on the world

But right now
For this moment

We are working
In chorus.

March 17

So.   A brief hiatus to deal with a nasty spring cold that knocked me right on my derriere for a few days.  I did have some momentary inspiration for verses about my aching bones on Thursday, but not the energy to type.   Tonight- feeling better, thank you.  Not particularly inspired, but better...

I did promise to try, though, so here is me, getting back on track...

Fever

there is something
out of body
about
a fever

acutely aware
of each of my bones

from a distance

trapped and dizzy
shuffling
hot

aching ankles
burning skin

focused on each step
each move
the promise of sleep
or ibuprofen
 
it will not consume me

I am only watching!

but first,
I think,
a nap
 

March 13

Snuffly nose today and tired.   Not the best time for poetic inspiration. 
I wrote a kind of crappy poem about the new pope and then I deleted it.

I promise to try harder tomorrow.

March 12

Today at Starbucks Nat and I happened to be discussing the relative similarities and differences of Hilton Head and Nantucket (give us time alone, and you just never know where the conversation will go!) Nat, arguing for differences, stated that "no one ever wrote a limerick about Hilton Head."

Sounds like a challenge to me.

A limerick about Hilton Head

There once was a man from Hilton Head
Who liked to sleep in a built-in bed
He had very long sheets
Tucked over his feets
But he wished that he had a kilt instead.

March 10

The sun came out today
A breath of hope
a warm sigh on my skin

My children played soccer
made sandcastles
tracked in mud and leaves
smelled like fresh air
climbed
rolled
for the sheer joy of rolling
in the sun-warmed grass

Let the snow come again
if it must

I will have this taste of
spring
to hold on to

March 10

It was a wonderful day out today, the sort of day that gives one hope for the future.  Much of the day was spent at a rehearsal, but I did get some outside time by meeting everyone at the zoo for a bit.  Lots of animals were outside, but my favorite viewing opportunity was the giraffe house.  When they are inside, you can get so much closer to them, these gorgeous, fascinating creatures....


With their alien eyes
preternaturally long lashes
horns like antennae
high enough for any signal


giraffes

may be the strangest of the animals

Thoughtful, too,
with their heads at a slant

they regard us.

the largest of them
is playing with a barrel
suspended
from the ceiling

I did not know giraffes played with barrels.

What other secrets do they hide?

March 8

Tonight we hosted these two lovely college girls, singers with the Kenyon college choir, on tour and needing housing for the night.  They are remarkable, in that way that college kids are remarkable. Beautiful.  Fresh.  Ready for the world.  We've had the most delightful evening chatting, drinking wine and editing pizza. It's quite a great to spend time with people who have not yet heard all our stories. :)

Their concert was pretty amazing too.

Resonant

Song pours out
From their faces
Ebullient
Resonant

With possibilities

They rejoice in the music
Imbue
It with a life

So strong in them
So full

Of light
In their eyes
Voices
Stories
Hopes

To be so young!

So much beauty on one stage
So much power

These smooth shining beings
Ready to take on
The world

 I applaud them
Clap  until my hands hurt
And it is for them
And also for my own youth

The memory of it
So sweet
So real

It resonates here
Vibrates
Rings out to silence
With the final chord

March 7

Today at school I was working with my students on alliteration.  They need some more practice identifying this so I thought I'd write something with a few nice, straightforward examples...



After dinner

Snow soft
flakes fall
around the block

hands hold
children chatter
sudden snowflakes
gently gather

tired troops
heading home
from our walk

March 6

Little fish

This one
The one with his hand stretched out to touch
The bottom
This one
strong kicking off the wall
This one
Settling his goggles on the top of his head
With confidence
With ease
Pushing back wet hair
To smile

This one

The little fish

I can't believe he's mine.

March 4

In my experience
I have found

Mondays
do not inspire poetry

That is all.

March 5

Tonight

We are trumpets
We fanfare
in runs and trills and
synco
pation
We are bold
We are brass
We herald

each bright chord an
announcement
of dramas to come

Sight reading
count singing
We laugh at our mistakes
revel in the right notes

And trumpet on

March 3

White

A playful snow is falling,
like glitter from the sky.
Mounds and drifts are forming,
the wind is whistling by.

The world is white and shining.
Lovliest snow I've seen.
But it's March now, and I'm dreaming
of someday seeing green. 

March 2nd

What we saw


Puffs of breath in winter- cold air
Knob-kneed newborns, wobbling in their fuzz
Small hands touching a horse's great head
Escaping lambs
Old friends
Leaping sheep
Sleeping pigs
A one eyed rabbit
Syrupy faces
Brilliant quilts
Snow covered fields
An approaching tractor, blazing orange
Three small straight backs sharing a wagon bench
The newness
The brightness
Th joy of it all
Through the eyes of our children





Oh, by the way...make that six heartwarming responses....

March 1

February was a lovely month of love letters.

Well, actually, it was a pretty cold and snowy month of love letters.  Crummy weather, made just a little better through the act of bringing a little more love into the world.  Twenty eight letters was an ambitious goal considering my usual energy level most days of the week... So I am ok with the fact that I think I got about 18 letters out into the world, with 3 more awaiting addresses.  Of those, 8 were  to strangers, and were left at gas stations, the gym, grocery store, Walgreens, and on a bench at Wade Oval.  I will never know if they accomplished their mission of brightening someone's day, but I like to think that they found their way into the hands of the people who needed them the most.

The other letters went out to friends and family, about half of those to old friends who I have not seen in years, but who came into my heart when I looked at my bin of stationary.   I've not heard back from most of those yet-- but then, several were only sent out a few days ago as it took a while to track down addresses.

I've had lovely, heart warming responses from the recipients of 5 of my letters, and those have been affirmation enough to convince me to carry on this tradition.

There are so many more people who deserve a letter, who deserve to be told just how amazing they are, just how much I love them.  I've decided  I'm going to keep that stationary right where it is and try to send out a letter or two a month from now on.  So if you've not gotten a letter yet, do not despair. You are in my heart! I am just waiting for the best time to do you justice...

In the meantime....  March has come in like a halfhearted and lazy lion, and it is time for a new thirty days....

At school this month I am studying poetry with my students.  I am making these reluctant little writers of mine create their own poems ( yes, I am a glutton for punishment!).  I figure the least I can do is join them.  So for this month: a poem every day.  I can't promise they'll be good.  But I like the idea of stretching my creativity a bit, giving a nod to some actual writing, beyond Facebook status updates and chronicling the escapades of my children....

At the African Dance and Soul Food Potluck

Drum beats
Pound out the shape
Of community
Collected
Faces of our children
All
Sizes and colors and shapes and
They are so real
They shine
Joy
Gleams out from the dancers
Feet flying
Pounding
Ringing
Twisting and turning
My heart
Into the shape
Of home.