This week I have felt nearer to normal. I’ve been thinking about teaching and preparing lessons for my return on Monday. I’m pushing away concerns that I have no control over. Yesterday I invited a neighbor, a retired teacher, to cut and paste magazine words onto Jenga blocks, an idea that originated with Paul Hanks and used by Kim Johnson. (See this post.)
I get a lot of poems in my inbox. Some days it’s too overwhelming to read them all. Some days I find inspiration in a line or a form or an idea. This week I found a first line from Ching-In Chen’s poem Breath for Metal.
Breath for Flesh
This a story
I’ve kept
inside my soft
body. I’ve discoveredbreath dissolves
fever–practiced pulling
in, hold, hold,
hold–
sigh.I am being gentle with her,
speaking softly
through tears
like a light rain in fall.Release
Margaret Simon, draft
is real.
Reflections on the Teche 