The tomato squirts in my mouth.
"You can't have seeds
without a flower."
The clock ticks incessantly.
Time happens
because the earth spins.
The students arrive in a burst of chatter.
I feel the earth move
as I watch them bloom.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013
I am trying desperately to hold onto my writing habits and not let school work take over my every waking minute. This is a draft. It doesn't feel quite complete, but I'm just happy at this point that I wrote at least one morning this week.
Things are starting to settle down a bit...maybe. Okay, who'm I kidding? I'm going to PRETEND like things are settling down a bit, and reclaim my morning habits of walking and writing!
Happy Poetry Friday! Let's meet Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts for the roundup this week!
Mary Lee, I have been feeling exactly the same way, but can't even pretend that I've done any writing this week :-( There's always the weekend, right?
ReplyDeleteI do love the last stanza of your poem and the way "a burst of chatter" echoes the burst of a tomato when you bite into it. Here's to classrooms full of blooming students!
Catherine
It is beautiful to read here how your teaching and writing lives mirror into each other. Here's to holding onto writing in the midst of busybusybusy. You're right that the small snatches add up. xo
ReplyDeleteYes, we do that too, we PRETEND we see the value in things until we actually do.
ReplyDeleteI especially like the third stanza.
I love this:
ReplyDelete"You can't have seeds
without a flower."
Yes, it is most definitely a one step at a time process.
I'm glad that you're starting back writing and walking! Love your third stanza! Here's hoping you have more and more time for writing (and walking). :)
ReplyDeleteGood to hear you're sprinkling those writing seeds and committed to reaping the rewards despite a busy schedule. Happy writing and walking. Now I need a tomato sandwich.
ReplyDeleteLove it, Mary Lee!
ReplyDeleteMary Lee, I totally get the writing habit and trying to keep it as Imove into the routine of school. On the up side be watching next week in the mail before the end of summer for a belated poem:)
ReplyDeleteI like to think about writing and exercise the same way. Squeezing out a little time for them makes life a bit easier and me a whole lot happier.
ReplyDeleteLove those bursting tomatoes and blooming children!
You know what they say, Mary Lee, fake it til you make it! Keep pretending, keep reclaiming, keep writing, keep blooming. Based on this poem, your mind has been blooming even while the rest of you has been busy with other things.
ReplyDeleteCan we pretend together? I haven't found all my time in the morning but haven't let go of working out.
ReplyDeleteThe seeds, the time, the flowers, maybe the yearning too. Teachers want to do so much, they do so much-hope you can find some balance soon. It's crazy time here at the first of the year! Nice beginnings (as you said).
ReplyDeleteLOVE that last stanza...exactly what I'm feeling at the end of the first week of school.
ReplyDeleteHow you write at all in the midst of the frenzy of teaching is beyond me. I love the way your poem circles back to the seeds and blooms of the first stanza.
ReplyDeleteViolet N.
That's the spirit. I love the conviction. Walking and Writing! :) I am rooting for you. I enjoyed reading your poem, Mary Lee! :)
ReplyDeleteHmm, what time zone are you in? Let's meet at 5am and pretend that nothing but writing is calling our names at that moment!
ReplyDeleteAs for craft, the 1st and 3rd stanzas work beautifully together; it's the 2nd that wants another look, to make those ticks burst past a little faster like seeds and chatter.
Mary Lee, it's so encouraging to hear about the struggle between writing, walking, and teaching. Over at my blog, I also am looking into my life more deeply to see where I get unnecessarily caught up and could be pushing away the classroom (not the kiddos, the mindless paper minutia) and regaining time and space to think about writing and walking. Thanks for your words of honesty. http://learningontheedge.blogspot.com Sarah
ReplyDeleteIf this is just a draft, I say you make it look easy. Nicely done, and best of luck holding onto exercise and writing. I think as women we have a tendency to put everyone else's needs first. Keep your well full, Mary Lee! You deserve it!
ReplyDeleteMary Lee, lovely poem! I agree with Keri--this is an amazing draft! Hopefully as the school year "settles in" you will find more space to write. Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteJuicy poem, Mary Lee! Wishing you some "settled" time to write and walk. =)
ReplyDeleteNice draft, Mary Lee! I rather like the slower pace of the second stanza, because getting students to bloom is not a fast process, is it? I don't know how you teachers do anything else! I only taught for three years, but it wholly consumed me. Write and walk on!
ReplyDeleteI love watching children bloom. I have been finding that when I look at my students lately I can't help but think of them as budding, growing, blooming little beings. Lovely words.
ReplyDelete