Friday, December 22, 2017

Poetry Friday: First Day of Vacation

First Day of Vacation

I finish turning in my grades
and look up,
amazed to find the world still going on around me.

I haven’t put away laundry for weeks,
and the piles of clutter have taken over.
I’ve forgotten what the faces of my life look like,
but there they all are,
smiling hopefully
and seeking my attention.

I’ve been too busy evaluating to live,
too busy assessing to appreciate,
too busy wielding my multicolored pens (not all red)
to let color seep into my soul.

Today I will observe
with no rubric in hand,
I will listen
with no agenda,
I will read
without judging,
and just because I want to.

Today I will rest
and ignore schedules
and eat when I please.

Today I won’t teach anyone anything,
except, possibly, myself.

Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com


I took this photo at Wynne Farm, Kenscoff, Haiti, last month.  

Here's today's roundup.


11 comments:

Linda Mitchell said...

Ruth, I am wishing you more than one day of rest....I'm wishing you time to "be" so that your creativity is rekindled. Thank you for the work you are pouring into our next generation of authors and dentists and teachers and nurses and bookeepers and waiters. It's all so vital. I see it more with each passing year. Merry Christmas. Peace be with you.

Linda B said...

Life doesn't get any better than that, Ruth. Merry Christmas!

Tabatha said...

Hooray for reading, resting, and rejuvenating!

Jane @ www.raincitylibrarian.ca said...

Each and every day my appreciation and thankfulness for teachers grows. Enjoy this period of rest, you've more than earned it.

Buffy Silverman said...

Happy observing, listening, and reading to you, Ruth! Glad that you are stepping away from your colored pens. And glad for your poem that gave us a glimpse of the teaching life.

Joyce Ray said...

Ruth, you and all teachers deserve a whole vacation with no agendas and so much more. Your poem brings back classroom memories for me. May this season bring you the rest and rejuvenation you need. Because you are needed and valued and treasured!

Michelle Kogan said...

I hope you take in seas of observation, reading, and plenty of R & R, enjoy your break, and thanks for sharing your poem that has so much we can all identify with. Happy Holidays!

Heidi Mordhorst said...

Hoo boy, you were right how on the same page we are! I love "won't teach anybody anything, except maybe myself."

I finally finished *Locomotion* last night instead of watching stupid TV (which is sometimes how potential reading time gets used, because you can watch TV with family members and have the impression of spending time together), and I slept late yesterday morning!

Please revel in the grace of the season and the freedom of your break. <3

Mary Lee said...

Amen and Amen! My gift to myself on the first day of break was to do something creative -- I made Mary Berry's Tunis cake. I measured my success by my happiness and by the satisfied groans of our Solstice dinner guests as they bit into their pieces. No rubric necessary.

(I still have one piece of writing to grade and comments to write on report cards. Maybe if I sit down with a plate of cookies and fudge I'll get finished faster?)

Kay said...

Enjoy your day of rest (and hopefully quite a few more during the break).

laurasalas said...

Oh, Ruth--this is lovely! I felt such a moment of connection at "I’ve forgotten what the faces of my life look like," and then comfort in the lines that followed. Enjoy your break and Happy New Year!