School has started. Not with kids yet, but the bustling around the building and the hefting of furniture and the PD sessions with masks and the PIVOTING this way and that and continuing the truly important work of building restorative justice culture in a district that has introduced THREE new highly structured/ scripted curricula in 18 months...my well-rested and relaxed summer brain must be a little overwhelmed.
I know because I worked for several hours I didn't quite have on a ghazal for what I believed was the Poetry Sisters' August 27 challenge, and then came here to find that the #PoetryPals challenge is very different indeed. Therefore, LaMiPoFri, except that I will also attempt the 8-line rhyming wisdom poem, "What the ____ Knows." I've done it once, I can do it again.
Except I am very distracted by the desire to write a poem entitled "What the F**k Knows."
But I'll resist, for now.
What the Fan Knows
What does the fan know?
To spin, revolve, to go go go.
To swiftly shift: high medium low.
To move the air, to pull and throw.
What does the fan know?
Just one season, summer throes.
Closet, basement when it snows.
Steady steady. How to blow.
draft HM 2021
That's all I've got tonight. I think I'm envying the fan a little. Elisabeth is our host this week at Unexpected Intersections, her first time, I think! Looking forward to all kinds of wisdom, Poetry Pals!
Read the leaders here:
Andi
Kelly
Laura
Liz
Go, Fan, GO! (And I REALLY want to read the other poem when you get the time!!!)
ReplyDeleteOooh. A little bit of LaMiPoFri inspiration in there.😄 And look what you did with it! Blew me away with your wonderful wordplay and jaunty rhythm. Cool!
ReplyDeleteHa -- I'm still giggling about your unwritten poem, but in the meantime, I LOVE this one. The first time I read it, I accidentally read the last line as 'there she blows!' and even though it's not that, I keep reading it in sort of an old-salt-of-the-sea voice. Thanks for playing!
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of you and your fan poem, Heidi! It's fan-tastic! And yes, please write the unwritten poem you mentioned...I'm dying to know. :)
ReplyDeleteYour fan poem was . . . cool! I hope your year begins and ends well. I am so grateful for teachers!
ReplyDeleteThree new curriculum scripts! I am sorry & understand that you feel the need "To spin, revolve, to go go go." That's a summer poem for sure. Wishing you some settled days, Heidi!
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking last night about how different summer was when we just had fans. At this time of summer, I'm sick of air conditioning, but too chicken to turn it off. Haha.
ReplyDeleteI am refreshed by that speeding fan on the go, go, go. Good luck with all the overwhelming stuff in your brain right now. Breathe some of that fan-filled air!
ReplyDeleteSo much fun - ended up staring at my blade-less one that does nothing but 'blow'!
ReplyDeleteOh, good luck with your school year, and your new and tasty-sounding curricula. I would PAY to read that first poem, though... ☺
ReplyDeleteGreat rhythm in your poem! Just like the rhythm of a fan.
ReplyDeleteSteady steady how to blow. MUCH wisdom here... and wishing you steadiness as you continue your important work in the classroom and on the page, dear Heidi. xo
ReplyDeleteHa! You are brilliant -- even last minute. I usually haul the fans down the basement about October. Steady-on with school. I've accepted the imperfection that goes with the pivoting and am trying to enjoy the kids. They are still learners and so ready for learning! I've heard many please and thank yous and just excitement to be learning again. This will wane...but for now it is glorious.
ReplyDeleteGo, Heidi! I love this and so want to read the not so PG-rated one as well. I'm visiting Camp Overwhelmed, too. Trying to stay positive, trying to focus on the kids, trying, trying, trying. Wishing you a wonderful return to the classroom :)
ReplyDelete(You are too blank-ing funny....) ;0) Well, you know I'm a FAN of all your poems, including this one... best wishes getting ready for the new school year!
ReplyDeleteThis is fun and fabulous. I love how you used "pull and throw" to describe what the fan is doing with the air - they're such forceful words.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a good start to the school year.
Heidi, your poem is testimony that poetry lies in everyday objects. Only this week I was urging young writers to sit and look around their immediate world for writing ideas.We are surrounded by potential ideas waiting patiently for us to discover them. You have done the fan proud.
ReplyDeleteLove your ode/"What the Fan Knows" poem, they are truly important in keeping us cool in more ways than one. All the best for this new school year–I'm returning to in person classes for 3 of the 4 art classes I teach—and hoping for a cool environ as we will all be masked up, thanks Heidi!
ReplyDelete