Today’s #verselove prompt was all about expressing the abstract through concrete details. I’m not so sure I approached this in the right direction. I started with my feelings of irritation with yet another gray day–the kind of day that seems to wring out the energy and makes you want to curl up and take a nap–right in the middle of the day! But then when I turned to the concrete–pulling on my favorite sweatshirt, the one with the Linda Christensen quote on the back and our writing project name and logo on the front, something unexpected emerged. (I do wish my stanza breaks would stay where I want them on wordpress–but that is something I will take up some other day!)

Making Sunshine

When clouds are damp and thick

like wet blankets hanging

from the sky

and the sun has gone missing

in an elaborate game of

hide and seek

I shiver and grab my favorite sweatshirt

the one I seem to wear most days

from April through June

Luckily, the sweatshirt is an old friend

whose hug reminds me that I belong

to a strong community of educators

Who make the sun shine

even on a gloomy gray spring day

creating the right kind of friction

the kind that warms hearts

puts students at the center

and knows that teaching is all about

joy and justice