For the month of April, I am participating in 30 days of #verselove poetry writing with Dr. Sarah J. Donovan's Ethical ELA.
Today's poetry inspiration was by Andy Schoenborn, who invites us to reflect on this year of pandemic and write about 'what we take, what is taken'.
Tossed
it begins with taken
years and years ago,
I went white water rafting with friends,
the Gauley River in West Virginia
we were total novices, up for the dare
young and fearless
there was instantaneous
wild
the raft whirling, twirling in the current,
the tumult of rapid-fire waves,
cold water spray up in my face and hair
paddling as strong and quickly as I could
all of us working together,
caught up in this thrilling unknown
hard bumps, landings as the raft
would rise up and slam down,
hearing a blur of loud commands,
must-dos from the guide,
when
suddenly
I was lifted
up
out
into
water
rocks
cold
alone
taken
that’s how it felt to leave teaching
this year of pandemic
I had been planning to downshift
to part-time teaching
May 2020
I dared to take
one last peek at email
at the end of yet another exhausting teaching day
this new reality of distance learning
two months into this treacherous pandemic
only to read:
Let’s congratulate Maureen on her retirement
Yes, I was tossed overboard
in the tumult of trying to respond
to this wild unknown of COVID
the budget for my new position was slashed
fear eliminates creative thinking
What does it take
to see
yourself
differently?
Simply this -
when what you had
is taken
Oh, this is so evocative AND so true to life. Oh, these changes that come along unexpectedly and throw us off-balance. They make us strong and they help us grow, but they make our hearts leap into our throats. Beautifully written and so relatable. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen! Life is change, that is for sure.
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