No more apples for Wrig

Wrig lost one tooth yesterday and one today. We were wondering if the tooth fairy will come by on consecutive nights.

Day 7

Opening Day
April 7, 2009

In the grand (slam) scheme of life,
a solid line drive to center
is no more significant
than a single blade of grass
or a breathless puff of chalk –

a clean base hit is neither
medicine nor economics,
politics nor jurisprudence,
penance nor forgiveness –

but when the sun reflects
off my glass just so,
when the afternoon is as
endless as a clear blue sky
and obligations just as distant,

there is nothing more significant
than a single blade of grass.

Day 6

being of sound mind and body
april 6, 2009

when i feel the grains of sand
in my marrow bones,

i will

woo you with arithmetic
with the mystery of endless sums
and the supple arc of geometry

i will

fill my lungs with the sharps and flats
of your chromatic scale and exhale
love songs the color of maple trees

i will

snap arthritic hands
off grandfather clocks,
and make a sundial of my spirit

i will

defy those grains of sand
and these fickle marrow bones.

Day 5

impatient
april 5, 2009

he calls this

the season of
about to happen

buds to burst
babies to birth
blessings to become

tensed and tired,
sleepless, eyes
eager and wide,

he aches with the
exertion of trying to

make things happen

Day 4

the good soldier
april 4, 2009

with the benediction of the sun
he resumes the war against nature:
border skirmishes beneath the buddleia,
invasive weeds exterminated with
extreme prejudice, preemptive
strikes in the raised beds
with limited collateral damage.

as the evening cools and the sun
averts its sympathetic gaze,
order has been restored,
victory declared, and an
uneasy peace briefly reigns,
though he can’t help but hear
laughter in the cawing of the crows.

I guess I should have added "post poem"

The Teacher’s To Do List
April 3, 2009

1) Write a to do list –
begin with the big stuff,
leave the little ‘til later.
poetry takes precedence over
prose, lovers before friends,
leisure before labor.
be sure to cross off
“write a to do list.”

2) Clean desk –
with one swift swipe,
wipe the whole pile
into the dustbin.
serious work awaits,
and a flat surface is essential.

3) Grade papers –
be parsimonious
with praise. don’t waste
precious time on
what’s written well.
we’re here
to build better writers,
so be constructive, be
constructive. be constructive!
but never use red ink,
which wounds the eyes
and sears the soul.

4) Remember to eat lunch –
put down the pen,
set aside the essays:
your colleagues await
you and your wit.
a good joke is far more
nourishing than the leftovers
in your lunchbox.

5) Don’t nap –
lunch sits heavily
in your belly,
the busy day hangs
heavy on your brow,
but do not submit,
do not surrender.
hold the book steadily,
hold your head high,
and when your eyelids
finally sag, dream of
a job well done.

6) Hit the copier –
with both hands.
shatter the glass,
crack the plastic,
scatter the toner like birdseed.
leave a trail of
blackpowder footsteps
so everyone knows
you were there.

7) Go home early –
leave the papers
and the lesson plans
behind; there is work
to be done at home
as well: a garden
to be tended, a family
to be hugged, a meal cooked.
and another to do list
to be written tomorrow.

Day 2

springsong
april 2, 2009

raindrops dance
on the tip of my tongue

scraps of music cling
to the heel of my shoe

flecks of grey sing
in your eyes’ blue skies

and the Conductor hides
in the whistling breeze

Here We Go Again

An Old Record Drives Me to Work
April 1, 2009

It’s been a decade,
maybe more,
since this tombstone shadow
stepped across my path,
but I still know
every lick,
every groove,
every riff and jive
as surely as I know
this long, gray
drive to work.

These pinched blue notes
tickle my fingertips,
itchy against the
steering wheel,
and coil themselves
deep in the bayous
of abandoned synapses –

Suddenly I am sixteen again,
lovesick, forlorn,
and dreaming of
an open road.