forever and a day

I realized I've been neglecting this blog. Mostly it's because once the summer really hit I didn't want to sit and type at the computer. Then, when school started again there were plenty of projects to keep me too busy to think about typing here. Oddly enough, I have tonight off when I was supposed to be doing a show. One of the leads has bronchitis and so we had to put off the opening until tomorrow night. It's a strange blessing in disguise because it enabled me to play catch up with myself finally.

My students have been working on monologues and learning to stop "running their mouths" when somebody else has the stage. It's middle school after all and one of their favorite games seems to be tormenting each other. I think it's hard for adults to remember sometimes how much the "name-calling" hurt at that age. In honor of that memory and to give some food for thought to any students that may be browsing this page, here is a poem from a few years back about "naming."

New Name
I think I'll invent a new name for myself.
Carve it out of cedar bark--
flexible and fragrant, yet strong.
Something that can move with me
as I
Wen
my way down the path of my life.
Stamp it into
di-
cut strips and roll it out for the world.
Wear it like a pliable shield
to ward off criticism.
I've had few other names to call my own,
most given when i'm slipping
from the here and now
and drifting off to dream.
Ping-pong
Butter-head
goofball.
So, this new name will root me to earth
while I stretch toward the sky.
It will whisper wind singing in the branches
and trill with birdsong.
It will start off low and rise to the heavens
and ev a por a t e
before it returns again
drifting
gently
back
down.
To say it,
you must turn
in circles
walking a spiral path
looking at where I'm
going
and where I've
been.
Tracing each moment
in dust between the t o e s.
Long as a mountain's lifetime
and
short
as
a
sigh,
it will dance
around me
like fireflies
on a summer's night
and light my way.

©2003 wendi loomis