Tag Archives: poetry

on a Thursday when a student writes a poem and she shows only you

and it says that she is afraid of being herself and you ask why and she says it’s personal “like, really personal” and you say if she wants to tell you, that you would love to know and she asks why and you say you care and she asks why (because kids are really goodContinue reading “on a Thursday when a student writes a poem and she shows only you”

I am so soft

I make clouds look stable to be stood on marshmallows, marble staircases feathers, full coat armor. I am a huge-hearted thing. I have reverse grinch syndrome: It’s two sizes too big and I’m too tiny too flight no fight too I only look bad on stage- If you ever have a conversation with me inContinue reading “I am so soft”

either/or, or some combination thereof

I. I will be a gallery you have never gone to. for hours on end you will gaze at me and I will repeatedly reinvent your idea of beauty. then, one day, I will speak to the ingredients in my paint – to the chemicals I can’t pronounce but am perpetually learning how to useContinue reading “either/or, or some combination thereof”

maybe

we are the parts of the story our mother’s never wanted us to tell each other. maybe we’re the cliff- hangers if we read close enough and if we put seashell up to our own echo maybe we’d realize how pleasant we sound too- how tide pool, how deep sea wouldn’t need necessarily to longinglyContinue reading “maybe”

when I read that the average life expectancy for someone living in the neighborhood I work is 68, I sobbed for the circles my students will likely not circle around the sun. I cried in the middle of grad class then realized what a damn privilege it is to be crying in the middle ofContinue reading

questions for my students and no these will not be on the test but they are so very much more important-

do you know about Einstein? and is it E=MC2 or the fact that he didn’t speak until he was 9, thought to be slow, was expelled from high school? do you know about Dr. Seuss? and is it all 1 fish 2 fish or is it the 27 rejected publishing attempts before his first success?Continue reading “questions for my students and no these will not be on the test but they are so very much more important-“

Here is every mental illness I’ve ever been diagnosed with, as a house.

because some people build homes out of their mental illnesses and I think I used to do that too. Homes are stable. Homes are steady. Homes are seemingly swell reasons not to go outside. This poem is a plea- Hey, no matter how comfortable your house is, please go outside.  BIPOLAR is a house with soContinue reading “Here is every mental illness I’ve ever been diagnosed with, as a house.”

for all the honey

I have poured out of half-enjoyed human stories in chipped porcelain China cups held haphazardly in the hands of my history- I am writing a to-do list addressing my limitations. I am seeking to sip longer, to be self-loving, to be good, to be just to just be. to unlearn my fear of kissing flickeringContinue reading “for all the honey”