Waxing poetic

Just a little poem I wrote...

Inauguration

“I have a dream,” the man’s voice boomed

And though the specters loomed

Of war and racism, hate and fear,

The crowd stood transfixed,

Ready,

Unafraid.

Or maybe they were not unafraid,

For how can one shut out fear

When bombs are dropped,

Hoses sprayed,

Babies gone?

No, not unafraid,

Not fearless,

But brave.

Bravery is not

No fear,

But saying no to fear,

Keeping fear at bay,

Keeping it from overtaking,

Keeping it down with

The expectant glimmers of

Hope and Light.

The people stood,

Brave, not fearless,

Bold, not immortal,

Transfixed by a man whose

Immortality would soon come at a

Bloody, mortal, wrenching price.

That day, the hope was bigger than fear,

The whole bigger than parts,

The many bigger than any one.

And so we stand,

Trembling,

Chilled by the specters of war and poverty,

Cold and fear

Knowing that the sum is greater,

The many are one,

And as long as hope and dreams are ours,

We shall not be moved.

We, too, are brave.

The Reverse Viola Swamp

In the book Miss Nelson is Missing, a sweet blonde Miss Nelson finally gives up one day when the kids just won't settle down. I seem to remember one page in particular where the paper airplanes whizzed by the shell-shocked eyes of the title character. The next day, Miss Nelson is gone, and in her place is the evil Viola Swamp. The children, so relieved that Viola is out of there a few days later, welcome Miss Nelson back as their usual angelic selves. The last page reveals Miss Nelson's closet, wherein hangs her trusty Viola Swamp costume, ready for the next flying paper airplane.

Ah, if wishing made it so. Instead, I left my students for three days last week (flu) and one day this week (in-service) and when I returned, they were coming down from a "substitute high" fed by too much free time and general rowdiness. Now Viola's back in town, and it is going to take a few days before all of the paper airplane materials have been confiscated. But, Monday is a new week, and I rescheduled a doctors appointment in order to whip their little butts into shape 24/7 next week. Unfortunately for them, this Viola Swamp has no sweet, blonde alter ego. But, she loves them even more than Miss Nelson loved her paper-airplane-throwing darlings.