Tutoring: Writing A Poem For English Class

Tutoring: Writing A Poem For English Class

Each syllable is
Painstakingly strained through the sieve
Of two languages
Then squeezed onto the page
Blood from a tiny pin prick

It's tortuous
Watching, waiting
I want to reach out
Snatch the pen from him and scream:

Here's how it's done!

My brain teems
Words tumbling, white water word rapids
To the point that I reach
For another pen while he sits, face as blank
As his page

Just create a picture with words, I tell him
Don't worry about telling a story

Pen poised in a death grip
He drips three words out
On a page screaming to be filled
While I watch his pen salivate

And I write a hundred words...

To him: Just keep going. Let them just come.

Or am I alone in this bombardment?
The avalanche of words?

© Lori Wiens MacDonald 2012

Delinquency and Potential Publication News

So... it's been months. And months. AND MONTHS since I have posted.

It's not as if I haven't had stuff going on, I have. But it's been fairly run of the mill. Work, kids, housework, kids, work, and so on. Did you catch the repeats? It's because I am a full-time teacher AND a mom. These things are difficult to work together. My teacher readers and my mom readers (all three of you ;) ) will understand.

But I digress.

I was posting to say that I have publication news. I was contacted by an editor about publishing a poem I wrote in 2010 called "Derek Walcott Spoke to Me Once". I am hoping that this will lead to more publications.

I admit that I have been feeling guilty ALL APRIL because I have written only one poem during this NaPoWriMo. I didn't even sign up. I feel somewhat like a failure because last year I wrote everyday, and that hard work culminated in publication (click here to check that out).

But I will take the potentially good news and move on. We can't change yesterday, and tomorrow is only a dream.