On Sundays, I post an idea to inspire a little creative writing among Ethical ELA friends. I focus so much on teaching at times that I forget to make time to nurture the being behind-within the teacher. So here is a little inspiration for today:
You have learned a lot in your lifetime. I bet you have some advice to give that would, if not make life easier for anther, comfort another in their journey to make sense of this world. If you are up for it today, write an advice poem or tell the story of some advice you’ve received or given. Or just write about anything at all.
When I was your age, I was 5’9”,
rather tall in the halls
of middle school.
My sisters called my pants
“floods” because they were
always
too short,
so I would steal my brother’s 32x34s Levi’s
belt them tight and join a world
not waiting for a flood.
In those days, there were no “talls” or “longs”
in the stores for girls as if being tall were so sort of wrong.
So between the pant thing and
the boy issue (being literally a foot taller than some),
I would slouch, and hunch, and hide
not knowing that it would get better.
It did get better.
It does get better.
The world of fashion caught up,
and you now benefit from stores (most online)
with longer sleeves, hems, and lengths (even 36s).
But clothes cannot stand tall for you.
Walk with your shoulders back and enjoy the view.
*a version of this poem appeared in my blog 30poems
“Nobody needs to know.”
These words to live by are from my very proud Irish grandmother. She was widowed in 1939 Dublin at 34 years old with nine children.
I only now noticed the nice alliteration!
Being in this world for
Fourteen years I’ve realized that everybody’s got a different perspective.
Some of us look at other people and only see their smile, eyes and outfit.
Others look and see their passions, dreams and loud cries for something they love.
Some of us see fear and hopelessness, but others just see the blink of an eye.
There are two types of people in this world.
The ones that see deeply within; and the others that see on the outside.
Just meeting someone for the first time you can sense their love and discipline or sometimes all you can do is feel their presence.
And what I’ve learned is that yes it is real. You can look inside the eyes of someone and learn a lot about them; or even just by the way they smile and act.
They either lack the world around them
Or they dance in the middle of a grass field without a single care in the world.
You either see a part of someone unfold or
You help them unfold the parts you yet don’t know.
And yes, both is a blessing and yet a curse.
There is no perfect
Other than the one right in front of you
There is no failure
Other than the one you concede to
There is no winning
Other than the one that you didn’t lose
There no finish
Other than when you DECIDE you are done
There is no smile greater than hers, and no laugh greater than his
There is no other