I'm Sneaky!

If you'd like to check out my surprise blog post for my husband's birthday, click here and join in the celebration!

#Poemaday 30: Be Careful

Wow, I am so excited that I have made it to the end of the month! It has been a delightful challenge and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

So here is today's offering in response to such a stirring photo.  Thanks to Bud Hunt for all of the inspiration this month.

Be Careful
Be careful, young man, of the footprints you make.
They leave a path for others to follow
and a map of where you have been.

Be careful, young man, of the shadows you cast.
They stretch and shrink with the sun
but they are always shaped by you.

Be careful, young man, of the water's edge you walk.
Some waves can inspire you toward the horizon;
others will tempt you, then tug you under.

Be careful, young man, of words like these.
They are the truth of a life foolishly, wonderfully lived,
and nothing could be better.

#Poemaday 29: Proximity

 Prompt #29's picture was beautiful, and it made me think about community.


Proximity

We can put our hands through our neigbors' windows,
no glass or distance to keep us out.
So, when the words start,
they paper our walls, too.

Sometimes they fly in short hard bursts,
no crescendo only banging like cymbals.
We flinch, then look at each other,
embarrassed that we heard.

Sometimes the words are low and soft.
Those are harder to hear, but we crave them.
We stretch our necks a bit
to catch something of the heavy sweetness.

Always we hear,
but when we speak,
we forget
there are walls to paper in other homes, too.

#Poemaday 28: Puppet Show

Puppet Show

I push the buttons, make the move,
but you are the puppeteer,
string around my heart.
Invisible lines make me move
in response to your twitch,
make me dance in response to your desire.

Others see only
my confident gestures, my stony face
and mistake these for control.
I let them be fooled; it's part of the show
we never planned
and do not discuss
for fear it will drop the curtain.

leaving us both
without a story to tell.

#Poemaday 26: What Are You Waiting For?

for the phone to ring
for the diagnosis
to be grown-up
to be discovered
with bated breath
with little hope
in anticipation
in fear

we wait
in line
after line
after line

     grocery store
     DMV
     the bank
     drive-thrus
     coffee bars
     amusement park rides


for permission
for direction
for forgiveness
for the light to change

for someone to say, "Its gonna be alright"
and for someone to believe it.

Give Melanie a Voice

As a teacher, one of the most wonderful experiences in seeing your students discover their passions and thrive in them.  My student Melanie is a tremendous person -- she is a thinker, a reader, a writer, and what she loves most, a debater!  We have been maintaining class blogs this year and I was so happy to see Melanie going beyond chapter summaries or vague reflection when she posted this.  If you can help, please do. 

#Poemaday 25: More Than Nothing

More Than Nothing 

(response to @budtheteacher's prompt #26 )

Yesterday's future holds

me back, holds me

in a weighty embrace

the spirit is love

but the truth is nothing

more than nothing.

Yesterday's future stares

back at me, holds me

in a fragile game of 

do not blink

because if you do 

the game is over

and the eyes close

under the pressure.

Yesterday's future speaks

such kind and hopeful words

like we can, yet we never do

more than nothing

and the truth is nothing

holds me back

but you and me

and yesterday

and the future.