Friday, January 29, 2021

Poetry Friday -- Time Traveler

 

For the Poetry Sisters' monthly challenge, I searched up my birth year on Merriam Webster's Time Traveler site.

From the list of words that appeared in print for the first time that year, I chose a handful that all relate to food: tzatziki, arugula, crudités, chicken of the woods, cordon bleu, and soul food.

There is no poem yet, but there is a scribbly draft in my notebook, jotted while waiting on camera between small group reading conferences yesterday afternoon.

This morning I'm thinking about the phrase, "Time Traveler." It was fun to be whisked back all those decades in just a few clicks and poke around leisurely in the linguistic past. 

The time I'm traveling through right now, though, feels like a river in spate and I'm barely clinging to the edges of a raft I'm constructing even as I plummet through the rapids, between the boulders, and under the overhanging branches that appear without warning. I'm struggling, but still afloat. Barely. 

8 comments:

  1. Hang on, Mary Lee! You've got this. I love this idea that you've shared and I've already copied the prompt into my digital notebook for a day of time travel. My river is fast paced these days too. There are deep pools as well. Happy paddling!

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  2. The nice thing about history is that it's a reminder that we have time - to do everything that's necessary. Even if it seems like you're spinning downstream, there's still time to keep building that raft. Hang in there! I believe you'll reach dry land...

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  3. Can't wait to use this brilliant idea in my own writing. Your current place in time resonates with me as well. One day at a time...

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  4. Your imagery around how you are doing right now is frightening. Are you all virtual? I don't think it's working. I only have one section of kids on virtual and I can't get them to respond as well as I could inside a classroom. They are slipping away and I feel responsible for the slide. It will take a long time for our kids to recover from this.

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  5. Your last paragraph thoughts sound like they are from a passage of Gary Paulsen's "Hatchet…" I like Tanita's take on this, "we have time." Sometimes it feels more overwhelming when we are in the thick of it. Along with Tanita's comment I'd add make a bit of time to do something you really enjoy, even if it's as simple as your walk in the woods.

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  6. I'm glad you're still afloat. Courage, my friend!

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  7. I look forward to the poem you eventually 'cook up' with those foodie throw back words, Mary Lee. I can relate to being "barely afloat"...I just keep swimming...

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  8. The rapids are relentless, aren't they? Hope you find an eddy to pull into soon so you can breathe and gather your strength. Your food words and so many more are waiting... Be well!

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