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Posts Tagged ‘oracle deck’

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

For multiple reasons, I had a rough week last week. On Saturday, I woke up early and went to a local farmer’s market to sell books and make “zines” with kids. It was really great fun, but hot! By the time I finished, I had not eaten or had anything to drink, so I went to my daughter’s house to cool off, literally.

Maggie and I started talking about my week and the day at the market. She suggested I pull a card from her oracle deck, “Mysteries of Love” from alenahennessy.com.

The card I pulled could not have been more perfect, literally and figuratively.

Today on Ethical ELA’s Open Write, the prompt was given by Larin, Thought You Should Know.

I wrote a poem to the Oracle Deck:

To the Oracle Deck (Snap Dragon: Cooling Down)

I want you to know
I’m trying to balance
will & ego,
soothe my inner fire,
but the system pushes
back again and again.

I want you to know
they say we have to move Mom
to skilled nursing. No! I shout
to you. This is not the path
I expected.

I want you to know
I tried to smile at everyone
I met in the halls at school.
I held onto a door handle
and did tree pose
just to test my balance.

I want you to know
how much I want to love
a puppy that chews my shoelaces
as I write this. If I stay cool,
will he stop and look up
with loving eyes?

I want you to know that no matter
what you told me on Saturday,
my will is fading fast
on Tuesday. I should pick
another card.

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Poetry Friday round-up is with Christie at Wondering and Wandering.

Just as my school year started, I received my final Poem Swap gift and poem from Janet Fagel. It was all about Taylor Mali, the inventor of Metaphor Dice. She’s friends with him. (Swoon!) She sent me his book Late Father, which I added to my Sealy Challenge stack, and a signed print of his poem Undivided Attention. Janet’s poem for me came as a found/black out poem from this poem. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but the poem arrived just in time for my 60th birthday.

Earlier in the summer I received a poem swap from Mary Lee Hahn. She made an oracle deck from my own words, phrases she had found in my poems. She color-coded the cards to show which was 5 syllables and 7 syllables. Then she created two poems from my words, a haiku and a doditsu (7-7-7-5). She encouraged me to make these with my students this year. Tucking it away until April when we’ve written lots of poems together from which to choose lines.

Haiku by Mary Lee with phrases from Margaret Simon
Dodoitsu by Mary Lee Hahn with phrases from Margaret Simon
Creating my own haiku from the oracle deck.

Both of these gifts come straight from the heart. This is the whole embodiment of this Summer Poem Swap, organized and led by Tabatha Yeatts. Thanks Janet, Mary Lee, and Tabatha. My hear is full!

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