California Fever

Virginia Tech

fishing hole

as i cast my line
in water of our shared lives
let me find kindness

My school will be joining in the national day of mourning today for Virginia Tech.  We will be wearing maroon and orange, and ribbons, as well. 

We were put on high alert yesterday when schools in two neighboring counties were put on lockdown.  There was a guy (who's apparently a meth addict--one news story quoted his mother as saying he's been strung out on it for months) claiming that he was going to go on a rampage that would make the one at VT look "mild."  An email was sent to staff and we locked all exterior doors.  We were given his description and that of his vehicle, since he was thought at first to have been mobile.  In early afternoon the district sent an email that the suspect had been apprehended.  It wasn't until J and I were watching the 11:00 news last night that I learned that he hadn't been apprehended yesterday afternoon--he turned himself in late last night.  That sent a chill.  Because for those of you who remember reading about our lockdown last Fall, we were told that the suspect in that incident had been apprehended when he hadn't. The story of yesterday's event is here.

Thank you to Liz and Dana at Poetry Thursday for the daily prompts during this National Poetry Month.  And thank you to them for this week's "guerrilla poetry" prompt.  I've really enjoyed reading what others have done in response. 

When I first saw their prompt for today ("fishing hole") I couldn't imagine how I could possibly use it when I was in the mood for something much more somber (with my thoughts on VT).  But then that little haiku came to me.  And then I thought about yesterday's guerrilla poetry efforts.  So I'd like to make a suggestion on this national day of mourning for VT...

That you take one of your poems today (I'm going to use this fishing hole haiku) and share it with people today.  As a way to connect with those who cross your path...as a way to remind us that we're all connected...that we're all in this together.  Hand over a little poetry to those who might least expect it...your barista...your toll taker...your bank teller...your coworkers...your fellow pedestrians...your grocery checker...your gas station attendent...your mail carrier (clip one to your mailbox)...your doctor or pharmacist...your children...your mate.

Let us be kind to each other today.  And let us remember why we're wearing maroon and orange.

root

i used to think it would
be simple that when the
time came i'd just give it
a good hard yank and
it would come flying out
gangliest roots and all
i meant to do that really
i did but then i'd get
sidetracked by some
new thing or a passing
fad but really the bottom
line is that i'm just really
lazy and it's so easy to
use busy-ness as a
camouflage for when one is
avoiding digging deep so
most of the time instead
i'd say look! over here! and
do my best to distract you
with some shiny new object
so you wouldn't notice
what was lurking below
the surface and not even
very far below it a simple
scratch of my veneer
would instantly reveal the
truth and boy am i
ever scratched by now and
really it's just exhausting
trying to constantly stand
at good angles to constantly
stand in good light so you
won't see the scratches
so you won't see the truth
and maybe that's it maybe
this is how it happens not
with some grand epiphany
in a blaze of light from on
high maybe it most often
happens on a regular
morning when one sits down
to write and realizes that
really it's just time it's time
to reach in deep and grab
hold of those roots and just
yank out the fear

Today's NaPoWriMo prompt at Poetry Thursday is "root."  Today is also the day when we can begin leaving posts for this week's Poetry Thursday prompt which was "guerrilla poetry."  And to that end, Liz and Dana have created a new Flickr "guerrilla poetry" group here.  You can read about my first attempts at guerrilla poetry here.