Day 91 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 91 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

I teach a political unit in AP Human geography and I have an assignment about walls that different countries have built to separate themselves and keep them safe from others and I was thinking about the internal walls that humans put up to protect themselves from danger real and imagined. I'm trying to break down my walls but they are tall and wide and deep and they have been there a long time. Safety is really a facade and these walls we build internally or walls we build to separate one country from another really do more harm than good. I feel like the walls I hide behind really limit me.

Day 90 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 90 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

OK, I am so enjoying summer. I'm so glad school is over and am happy to be enjoying lazy days and adventures. All the things in this poem remind me of summer and they remind me of my youth and college days living in Frogtown with my grandma. I loved going camping with my parents to my grandparents lake lot in the summer. June bugs scare the crap out of me and I still hear them hit my window panes.

What reminds you of summer?

Day 89 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 89 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

I've visited the Roman and Greek ruins and initially that was what I was going to write about but something else came out instead. I thought about all the people who have come before me and paved the way so that I could live the life I am living. We stand on the shoulders of many who lift us up.
It's never too late to rebuild your life or begin again.

Only 11 days left!!

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Day 88 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 88 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

Today I was listening to a podcast called Live Awake by Sarah Blondin and she said we need to learn how to feed ourselves love and it really stuck with me and I had to write it down and create a poem around it. I love Sarah Blondin and her mediations. She has helped me to grow, accept and love myself. I'm still a work in progress. Every day we have to make time to love ourselves by doing things we love and taking time to practice self-care.

Day 87 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 87 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

I was thinking today about all the things we carry and this poem just barely scratches the surface. We carry so much from our ancestors and their DNA, through historical trauma, Then we pick up the opinions, judgment, and voices of others and carry that too. We carry our children, our parents, illnesses, and deaths. Everyone we meet is carrying something that is heavy. We should help each other more to lighten the load.

Day 86 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 86 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

I actually wrote this poem yesterday but did not have time to type it up and sent it out. This is an ekphrastic poem that I wrote about a Mary Cassett painting titled Child in a Straw Hat. I included the painting for your reference.

I don't feel like I'm that good at writing in the ekphrastic style but the important thing is that I tried. So important to try and try again, until you get it right.

Shout out to poet Donna Isaac whose prompt inspired this poem.

Day 85 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 85 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

Another version of My Body. I tried to play with some symbolism in this one.
I've been thinking a lot about solace and sanctuary and of course my garden that is beginning to bloom.

Day 84 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 84 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

I'm listening to the audiobook- The Body Keeps the Score. Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk. It's really good and I'm learning a lot about myself from the book. He said something today and I wrote it down and some of it is included in the poem. He said that people who have been abused as children are trapped and have to reconstruct their inner maps if they want to change how they see the world. My Body also makes an appearance- but it's a little different than all the other poems about my body.

Healing is hard work and I'm exhausted just thinking about the reconstruction of my inner map.

Day 83 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

 Day 83 of The 100 Day Poetry Project

I went for a walk on Sunday and literally saw a stone on the path, it called my name and I picked it up. It felt comforting in my hand and gave me a measure of safety. Sometimes I feel that stones are old souls. I've always been a person who stops and looks at rocks and then takes them home where they live in my garden or in a glass vase on my dresser.

Are you a collector of stones?

Day 82 of The 100 Day Poetry Challenge

 Day 82 of The 100 Day Poetry Challenge

I really wanted to write a poem about the amazing work women's bodies do when pregnant and growing the next generation. II also wanted to honor the work educators do to foster the growth of children. It takes a village - right? We educate with our bodies as well as our minds. I hope I was able to capture in this poem the amazing work our bodies do.

This is my 5th "My Body" poem in this 100-day project.