The idea
like a shy child
peeks from around a corner
hoping you will notice it.
If you’re too busy to pay attention
it fades away and you are left
trying to find the picture you can’t
quite bring to mind.
.
.
.
Twice this morning, while busy with something else, an idea fluttered up. Twice I thought, “Oh! That’s good. I must remember that!” and twice it disappeared into the ether. Darn. Darn.
Just came across this in my audio book today:
“An insult is like a drink, it affects one only if accepted.”
Robert A. Heinlein in Glory Road
How true is this!
The difference between being ‘thin-skinned’ and ‘thick-skinned’ lies in if you ‘accept’ the insult or not. If you do not, it rolls over you and you can remain jovial and calm. If you accept an insult, it can be toxic, taking bitter root and poisoning both you and others around you as you spread the toxicity.
This brings to mind that some need more gentleness than others.
While insult may be completely unintended, those who presume a negative intent will let their ‘acceptance’ of the insult fester. Their perception is their reality.
This is when one can either wait for the one presuming insult where none was intended or implied to either wake up or move on, or one can say “I’m sorry you felt that way, it was not the intent.”
I am prone to the former, with a shrug of shoulders. For those of us who ignore even intentional insults (some of us have taught junior high and therefore have a lot of practice) it can be hard to feel sorry for those who are so fragile or victimized that they see insult wherever they turn. They’re emotionally exhausting to be around.
I don’t drink either literally or figuratively. It seems like a sound way of avoiding trouble.
Baby birds
peeping in the road
calling for dinner–all mouths
few feathers
Watch for cats!
You’re right there
but you’re gone.
Imagining the future without you
takes magic out of the world
silences our laughter
slices out our hearts.
You’re right here,
but you’re gone.
Lost to us
at great cost to us
There isn’t enough chocolate* in the world
to assuage this agony, unrelenting.
You’re right here,
but our story is ending.
.
.
.
My colleagues and I are grieving the loss of a great leader. We will go on with the new again, of course. But sometimes, before you pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and pull it together, you need to wallow for a while in the emotions you’re feeling. Loss is painful. Change is scary. We’ll get through it, but accepting the grief is healthy, too.
*some people may wish to substitute a beverage, shoes, or other favoured ‘pick me up.’
secretly
you scribble,
hiding words,
worshipping
silently.
.
.
.
So many kids constantly writing, but not handing in their work! Arg!
We are flexible and contented
We dance in the halls and laugh in the staff room
We inspire and challenge, stretch and strive.
We welcome opportunity to grow and improve
with new members to our team.
But.
leadership must embrace our joy. We have a culture of YES.
We ask “how can we…?” Not “Can we?”
Today, we’re afraid.
.
But
we wonder how can we
make this change create even greater opportunities for our kids.
We’re nestled here between the hills
protected from the harsh winds
warm and basking by the lake.
But you are bored,
you’re ready to escape,
to see what lies beyond the valley
and so we wave farewell
knowing after adventure,
home calls the blood.
Airborne tanks strafe the window,
humming engines,
peppering thunks as they run their
Kamikaze missions:
June bugs crazed by light.
.
.
.
(It can be kind of scary late a night while I’m working at the computer!)
Her heels
hold back healing
but she feels
without stealing
opportunities for heels
her soul won’t heal,
whole soles heal heels.
.
.
(wishful thinking, that.)
Our graduating students chose the theme of CARNIVAL! for their Graduation ceremony today. I wrote a poem for the teacher they asked to be the special speaker. Here it is:
ERS GRAD 2015 POEM
A carnival is quite a bore if you are there alone
And surely melancholy could seep into your bones
But in the night, with all your friends
A carnival’s great fun, the spinning lights will mesmerize
The laughter never ends.
Cherish time together
at this your graduation
Your memories and histories are worth the celebration.
You may live far apart as you journey through your lives
But always choose what’s positive
and you will choose to thrive.
For life can be a carnival, it’s fun and fearful, too
Remember Eagle River,
as we’ll fondly think of you.
Shawn L. Bird 