I was bold.
I introduced myself as a poet.
I said my name…twice.
Then he took out his phone to type me in.
A former poet laureate of the state.
He’s offered to come to workshop with my students, even though he’s never taught elementary before. Can I make this happen? Yes, I will.
Last night I was at a dinner party for artists who are visiting our town for The Shadows on the Teche Plein Air Competition. We are hosting an artist in our home. The evening was beautiful, violinist, food, wine, and a sun setting over the bayou. The director of the Shadows is John Warner Smith. He served as state poet laureate from 2019-2021, so he talked about how “Covid hit” and all workshops moved to Zoom. He gave me his card and said, “Get in touch. We can do something.”
My students already have a heightened admiration of me because I often introduce them to poets I’ve met, but wait until they meet Mr. Smith, a living poet laureate. I’ll have to teach them what poet laureate means. I hope he’s as good a teacher as he is a dinner party conversationalist.
I was bold.
I said I am a poet.
Do you tell others that you are a writer?
Reflections on the Teche 
You really are All That.
And A Poet, too.
No doubt about it.
Thanks, Mary Lee. Your support helps me think it could be true. You are one, too, of course.
Yes, you are a poet. You inspire your students. You inspire us.
oh, the beautiful things that can happen when artists come together in community! I hope you will share what happens after, with your students. Meanwhile, yes- you are both poets. But YOU are a poet AND a teacher!
What a great story. Yes, you are a poet and I do hope he is Poet Laureate enough to teach your children…
I know he is and they will learn from each other. Ha! What a great story ms bold poet.
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Margaret, you are definitely a poet, and I believe for many of us, it is or has been a journey to say it, to name who and what we are in this realm. I know it has been for me, but I recall that once I named myself “poet”, the gradual transformation became real.
How absolutely bold and beautiful! Of course, you are a poet, so truth wins. It will be wonderful for your students. Lucky them.
Yes, I am sure it felt bold but you are a poet and I love reading your work. I don’t say I am a writer. I fall back on gardener but alway always say it is a small garden. Funny how hard it is to own our own skills. Thanks for the post! Good Luck with your kids!
Your words give wings,
Your writing leaves me in thought, provokes my heart, discerns a path, Poet Margaret.
I feel you’ve created a lifetime art friend in this visiting poet. Brava!
So exciting, Margaret! I have never introduced myself as “a poet”. Took me years to call myself a writer… I am relishing this boldness! I am also awed.
I love your boldness and your courage to say those words, out loud, to a poet laureate. And of course they are true. Your students know it. I know it. Those of us in this community know it. And now your poet laureate knows it. Can’t wait to hear how his visit with your students goes!
Thank you for bringing us into this exciting dinner, and I am so “future excited” for your students to host this poet laureate, and I keep my writing/Slicing life very hidden away… I wonder why? I might just Slice on that.
This is beautiful! I love the courage that shines through – I feel that bravery especially in those first few short lines.
Just yesterday in a class I was taking, I started a sentence with “I’m a writer…” and I thought to myself, “How bold to say it as just part of something I’m trying to explain!”
You are a poet – and how lucky for us and your students!
It’s been a process and I think I felt safe saying it to a fellow poet.