leaning forward

too few moments of human contact right now,
it feels like we are leaning forward

I sit at my table teaching,
finally a student’s voice emerges from
the flat screen, and I lean forward
not to miss a word

as I stand in front of the plexiglass screen,
I lean forward to share my name:
last then first, membership counts

behind the bakery I stop to greet Olivia,
“I’m here for cupcakes for a friend,
who had chemo today – isn’t a cupcake
a perfect treat?” we both lean forward
to capture the moment before we move on

at the end of the day, I’m at Danielle’s
dropping off dinner with cupcakes,
we lean against the counter talking,
been so long since we last shared the same
space, from across the room Randy
joins our conversation, we lean
together holding our moment before we part

sixth period

standing at the window watching the screen
framed students add notes to Padlet about reading
a simple question opens details about my students

after reading their peers’ assertions, students
share praise about the diction discovered on the screen
sometimes their peers’ writing makes the best reading

today presented them with new ideas for reading
and matched with differing opinions from students
their spirit, energy and personalities filled the sounds of the screen

my quiet screen left little reading but the spirited words of my students

beauty

Beauty walks in silence. Enabled
by the beauty of others, who stand
before a mirror. Beauty reflects the features
of closed lips to the beauty of another’s smile.
One smile expresses all the hidden beauty.

the right words

I listened as Emily talked to me about her
mother’s boyfriend, there were guns,
he was selling drugs, living with her mom,
her brother and her

the fear in her voice as she shared with me
how it felt to ride in his truck, her brother and her

there were no words I could write in a web
to protect her from things totally out of her control

haunted by her words on Monday morning
I handed her The Four Agreements

4 dogs later

there was Bella when I settled in to morning runs
dark week day mornings
when I considered the houses where I knew someone
just in case
weekends brought us trail runs
longer, not so early as to beat the light
we ran not quite in stride
her free movement and head turning back to see me
me picking through a stone strewn trail
many days, many trails

now mornings are spent walking three dogs
running is no one’s game
we walk
on good days the three leashes spread out
like bamboo blades in a paper fan
other mornings three dogs move in three
directions and at three paces
I’m thankful to stay on my feet

none of us run together
Jack sets out into the woods
before his body reminds him
Godot still lithe though a little lame
in the hips, Stanley gets distracted til
he notices we’re far down the trail
and he bounds towards us ears bounce
on either side of his head
and I think about Umberto Boccioni”s
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space