Sometimes, you open your eyes and realize you’ve spent too much time saying, “I’ve had enough” and not enough time rewarding yourself for recognition that you deserve better. The past weeks have brought much insight to my life about myself and my direction and my straying from that path, and this week, I’ve been given…
Category: Poetry
Back to school: micropoems
My family of friends is spread across the country, but a great majority of them reside still in Texas and in DC. Today, literally about a hundred of them either started school themselves as students, teachers, or parents of little ones. I did not join them for the first time in fifteen years, but my…
Back to School: New Student Feature!
In some places, I feel the pains of teachers that have already put away their swimsuit for the rest of the season in favour of a rainbow assortment of cardigans and fun ties. Although I won’t be joining that legion this fall in the way I have the past two years, the back-to-school season still…
Introducing Student Poetry!
I am so pleased to say that one of my students – a wonderfully, talented beautiful little soul who you can meet here – found my site and reached out to me asking if I’d feature one of her poems. I LOVE doing anything that could help foster the creative in my loves, so I…
I woke up and the words flew out of my bones
With the business of taxes and graduate coursework upon me, I didn’t expect to awaken in such a state, but that was exactly how it happened. I am pleased, simply, to still be writing anything, however, and offer it up here. graves of once-mountains (2014) …
How much of the future is in our hands?
Left with too much time to think (don’t get me wrong – I am loving what has become my five-day weekend, thank you, school district), I often revisit this question. Some days, I feel utterly in charge, like my mind is finally swinging in tandem with the universe’s energies and I was born for nothing…
Polar Vortex? Poems to the earth.
In honour of my snowed day off, I revived a few old pieces that toyed in structure and playfulness. These were originally written for exhibit at an Earth Day festival several years ago. Enjoy: Man’s Proud Proclamation Celebrating the Union of Earth and Man : Or, Sonnet 1 love letters to the earth (haiku) I…
My services offered
(*New poem linked inside*) I lost time of most of my “day off” to actually spending more time in my school today than intended. I debate the use of the word “lost” because although it was absolutely exhilarating to have so many students and volunteers come out to help renovate our library [for our “MLK…
On top of the world
I woke up today feeling absolutely in charge of life. I decided I was going to master my yoga headstand today. So far, I’ve ended up with a lot of shoulder muscle soreness and disappointment at discovering I’m actually not a natural-born gymnast in hiding. Nonetheless, the day is young and I remain optimistic. I…
liberation through balance
This was my theme for 2014, both as (I like to think it was) I decided and as it was handed to me. On the topic of balance, someone recently said to me, Balance, I guess, can be viewed in two ways: in the verb tense, as in to actively balance something with something else,…
My eight-year-old
My mind is jumping between two [or three] worlds as I jump back into the groove of teaching and gear up for grad life again. That said, I haven’t been able to complete a line of thought worth sharing the past week. As an offering, I dug up an old nugget (very old – it’s…
Fact: I love botany.
Don’t mistake me – I didn’t study it. I just love everything involved in the cultivation, growth, and life of plants. It’s beautiful. If you know nothing of plants (certain cacti, specifically), however, you might miss the biggest reference of my newest addition: Selenicereus Grandiflorus …
Sharkey Speaks 