distracted

It's hard to get any work done with such a handsome boy staring at you!

letting go

I've blogged quite a lot about friends who have abandoned me. This was something I wrote a number of years ago when I was the one who had to walk away:

letting go

scuffed boots

work-worn cap

faded blue jeans

calloused hands

sunburned face

you reach for me

search my eyes

my heart melts

in this moment

your strong embrace

feels so right

i pull away

avoid your gaze

your heart breaks

squealing tires

i'm all alone

feels so wrong

pink flip-flops

bleached blond hair

too-tight jeans

manicured hands

tear-stained face

Every ending brings a new beginning. I truly hope that wherever you are today, life is treating you well. Please forgive me for the pain I caused you those years ago. It hurt me too. One day, maybe we can look back and smile when we remember the good times we had before life got complicated. 

first day of kindergarten

Yesterday I headed back to my alma mater to teach Kindergarten. I had not been back since my last day of 8th grade, so it was interesting to spend the day. (One of my former teachers still works there!) Although I have had lots of EA and ECE supply calls, this was my first teaching assignment in a Kindergarten class in well over a year. We had a fun day, and it reminded me of the following poem that I wrote back in one of my university writing courses (having clearly not experienced the utter chaos and mayhem of a kindergarten classroom on the first day of school):

first day of kindergarten

the bell rings

voices sound in the hall

shattering the stillness

of the early morning

they laugh and chatter

as velcro crackles

new shoes squeak

and doors slam

you stand in the doorway

and watch

taking it all in

twenty students sit cross-legged

on the faded orange carpet

and turn inquisitive faces

toward you

they wait--

mouths slightly ajar

eyes wide with anticipation--

for you to say something

because this year,

you're the teacher!