Today’s two-part Tuesday prompt is to write a “What you are / What you are not” poem.  I cannot get my mind away from Billy Collins’ “Litany.” I cannot get Edie Brickell’s “What I am is what I am is what you are or what”out of my head.  I cannot stop thinking about Shakespeare’s “Shall I compare thee.”  And I am so, so sleepy.

What I am is just sitting on the edge
of the table, barely able to function,
a brain that has already set,
before that gentle sliver of a moon,
before the aggressive shine of Venus.

I am holding on to the wakeful spot of my day
like a spider to the thread
that is just about to break in the wind.

What I am is the one who sits between worlds
greeting the ones who enter the gate,
wishing too could wander across the threshhold.

 

Gratitude List:

1. The way my sons’ school is emphasizing Earth Day, as a way to begin making changes in their family’s lifestyle, asking children to make notes about specific things their families do to change their behaviors.  I like it.  Sure, it’s not enough,  but it’s that one little bit to start, and hopefully it makes more people more aware.
2. The art displays going up at school.  I am finding myself feeling extremely jealous of my students. I would so deeply love to take some of these art classes myself.  Their work is phenomenal.
3. Re-planning.  Sometimes plan A gets a little murky and confusing after it’s been reworked and redrawn so many times.  It’s nice to put the paper down and start fresh, using the old map as a guide.
4. Poem-a-Day.  It is exhausting.  It is frustrating.  It is exhilarating. I am learning a great deal about myself.
5. Prose poetry.  I am going to try working in this form, just as soon as I can catch my breath.

May we walk in Beauty!