13/365

most days are roller coasters
days are roller coasters
days are

hard to handle;
filled with joy;
heavy with an aching
that leaves us numb.

take right now:

the house is dim
with low watt bulb light,
a chill glass of eggnog
and my first born
tickling her new keyboard.
her voice,
timidly working
its way through a song.  
a set of songs.

most days are roller coasters
days are roller coasters
days are

hard to handle;
filled with joy;
heavy with an aching
that leaves us numb.

take earlier:

teaching
other people’s children:

“let the poem go where it needs to.
don’t be anchored by your first draft.
follow it down many alleyways.”

“never evaluate as you create.
everything feels like shit
until you revise,
even then it takes time
and you seldom get it right.

poetry is the fight.
never the poem.”

they wrote with earnest intensity.
the classroom filled with highs
and loops
and screams.

most days are roller coasters
days are roller coasters
days are

hard to handle;
filled with joy;
heavy with an aching
that leaves us numb.

take later:

the students are:
tired
stressed
anxious
looking
for strategies to cope:

cuts.
ideation.
safety plans.

she sings the songs.
we write the poems.
get back in line
and take another ride.