A little over a year ago, my grandson Leo, who was not quite 3 at the time, had a conversation with my daughter. He was sleepy and seemed to be recalling a dream about being bitten by a monster.
“He was sleeping,” recalled Leo.
“And he woke up and bit you?” Maggie inquired.
“Yeah, and it was bleedin’,” Leo said. Then he smiled and said, “You love bleedin?”
“Do I love bleedin’?” Maggie asked in a soothing voice.
“That’s rearry scary! And you might cry, too.”
The words “You love bleedin'” have remained since in our unofficial book of family lore.
Yesterday I had to go have a yearly blood test. Not my favorite thing, but I made it through, and the nurse was as nice as could be, but on the way to school, I thought about the Ethical ELA prompt. Stacey Joy had a wonderful post with links to beautiful words she encouraged us to try. I abandoned that part of the prompt and focused on creating a haiku sonnet in my notes app. Sometimes you just have to say what you want to say. And bleedin’ was on my brain.
Bleeding on the Page
I worry I can’t
do what other poets do
bleeding with deep love.I gave blood today
opening my elbow for
piercing, dark red flow.A tiny bruise dot
reminds me I’m human–
Blood tells a story.Hemmingway says write,
it’s easy, open your veins
Bleed the words that flow.So here I am sharing
Margaret Simon, #verselove 2023
my bloodsong with you.
Two Writing Teachers.
Reflections on the Teche 