- Published on
I've recently discovered the wonderful world of MOOCs (massive open online courses), free university-level courses taught via online modules, in just about any topic you can name. Ironically, I came across MOOCs through an article heralding their demise.
I'm currently taking a poetry course, How Writers Write Poetry, through the University of Iowa. It's fascinating, and fun. Here's a little something I cooked up this week.
The Battle
In a quiet nook
Paper leaves
Turned by trembling
Fingertips
Rustle softly
A battle of wills
Shakespeare
Wordsworth
Owen
Begins
Draw your swords
Draw swords
Raw words
War drown
Word down
The pen is mightier
Black blue
Blood red
Ink spills
Across the
Landscape
Pages
The cannon of literature
Explodes
Bangs, booms, crashes
Through time
Until all that is left
Are question
Marks
The poet
Wanders
Lost in thought
Trips and stumbles
On sounds and syllables
Receives a paper cut
The mind field
Laid to rest.
I'm currently taking a poetry course, How Writers Write Poetry, through the University of Iowa. It's fascinating, and fun. Here's a little something I cooked up this week.
The Battle
In a quiet nook
Paper leaves
Turned by trembling
Fingertips
Rustle softly
A battle of wills
Shakespeare
Wordsworth
Owen
Begins
Draw your swords
Draw swords
Raw words
War drown
Word down
The pen is mightier
Black blue
Blood red
Ink spills
Across the
Landscape
Pages
The cannon of literature
Explodes
Bangs, booms, crashes
Through time
Until all that is left
Are question
Marks
The poet
Wanders
Lost in thought
Trips and stumbles
On sounds and syllables
Receives a paper cut
The mind field
Laid to rest.
- Published on
Today has been a Very. Hard. Day.
Personally speaking, and in the world. My thyroid doesn't work any more. The radiation zapped it into oblivion. It explains the mood swings and fatigue. I stopped one drug, only to discover I have to start two more. Accessing mental health care is like searching for a needle in a haystack. The people who are supposed to help you are trapped in a system seemingly designed to make you insane.
The grief being felt in my home country. The destruction in Nepal. The fear and anger in Baltimore.
Sometimes, it all feels too much. So I went for a walk. My mission was to find the lovely. More than ever, I need lovely. I need to feel, that at least on some level, it's all going to be ok. Despite the destruction of my body. Despite the destruction in the world.
On my walk, I found spring. Pink and white blossoms. Magnolias. Tulips all colors of the rainbow because someone had cared to plant them. A sweet chalk drawing on the pavement. Children playing. People out running. Colorful rows of houses. Washing on a line, evidence of someone had made use of the sunny day to dry their clothes.
Tiny pockets. But enough.
Personally speaking, and in the world. My thyroid doesn't work any more. The radiation zapped it into oblivion. It explains the mood swings and fatigue. I stopped one drug, only to discover I have to start two more. Accessing mental health care is like searching for a needle in a haystack. The people who are supposed to help you are trapped in a system seemingly designed to make you insane.
The grief being felt in my home country. The destruction in Nepal. The fear and anger in Baltimore.
Sometimes, it all feels too much. So I went for a walk. My mission was to find the lovely. More than ever, I need lovely. I need to feel, that at least on some level, it's all going to be ok. Despite the destruction of my body. Despite the destruction in the world.
On my walk, I found spring. Pink and white blossoms. Magnolias. Tulips all colors of the rainbow because someone had cared to plant them. A sweet chalk drawing on the pavement. Children playing. People out running. Colorful rows of houses. Washing on a line, evidence of someone had made use of the sunny day to dry their clothes.
Tiny pockets. But enough.
- Published on
At the park with the wonderful Molly
The sky was blue
It was almost warm enough to not be wearing a coat
I had enough energy
To walk to the park
(And back!)
And in the park
We sat by the lake
There were ducks and geese and swans
And people out running
Cycling, horse-riding
And enjoying the sun
More people than I have seen in months
They weren't having blood drawn
Or labs recorded
Or cancers checked
And it felt
So. Damn. Good.
It was almost warm enough to not be wearing a coat
I had enough energy
To walk to the park
(And back!)
And in the park
We sat by the lake
There were ducks and geese and swans
And people out running
Cycling, horse-riding
And enjoying the sun
More people than I have seen in months
They weren't having blood drawn
Or labs recorded
Or cancers checked
And it felt
So. Damn. Good.