Teacher as Transformer

Elegy in the Classroom

Posted on May 16, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

Anne Sexton wrote this wonderfully provocative poem. I am unsure of her context for the poem, but an elegy is a lament or a mourning for something past. As with anything, when we grow past the love and passion for what we do and the compassion for the people we do it with it is time to take our leave. I want to be remembered as ‘gracefully insane’ or eccentric. I love learning with my students and their families the second greatest reward I can receive. The first is learning with my family. I think, in both cases, I could be called somewhat ‘disarranged’.

Teaching is a place of great creative for me and fills a whole in the hole of my soul.

Oh my, Anne Sexton discovered and chose great words for teachers.

In the thin classroom, where your face
was noble and your words were all things,
I find this boily creature in your place;

find you disarranged, squatting on the window sill,
irrefutably placed up there,
like a hunk of some big frog
watching us through the V
of your woolen legs.

Even so, I must admire your skill.
You are so gracefully insane.
We fidget in our plain chairs
and pretend to catalogue
our facts for your burly sorcery

or ignore your fat blind eyes
or the prince you ate yesterday
who was wise, wise, wise.

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Posted in Education, Humour, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Uncategorized and tagged Anne Sexton, education, Elegy in the Classroom, Mindful Practice, poetry, servant-leadership, spirituality, stewardship, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

A Quotation About Freedom From Paulo Coelho

Posted on May 15, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

We live a life where everything is constant change, a state of flux. This quote by a wonderful author Paulo Coelho reminded me of the refrain from a Tommy Castro song: It’s not what it used to be/Because it’s not what it used to be/It’s not what it used to be/I am not who I used to be. Letting go of our certainties offers us freedom.

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Mark Nepo: Lineage

Posted on May 14, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

Mark Nepo is a wonderful writer and poet. He points out the way we could live life more fully and witness the ordinary in the extraordinary. We tend to push the most important moment, the present, to the outside and marginalize it. Who and what are more important questions in our lives than why or how. Recognize who is important and what is important.

Bright, shiny objects!

Mark Nepo writes:

Beyond family or the culture and religion of our birth, life will lead us to discover the lineage we are a part of, the circle of kindred spirits that nourish our soul. The difficulties of living can often make us put this lineage aside to deal with trouble first. I’ve done this and found myself lessened for putting what matters last. This poem speaks to how draining it is to put trouble first.
Lineage
Old Friends, Old Teachers,
I never meant to crowd you out.
At first I would drop anything
when you would appear. And
then, it was the noise of the world
that made me save you for a more
sacred time. It was obstacle after
obstacle that drew my attention,
while I kept you like a prize for a
quiet simple day. No one told me to
make this separation. I just started
to…

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Directions

Posted on May 13, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

Several years ago, I was in a small city Medicine Hat, Alberta. I was lost and stopped several people for directions. The second half of this poem by Connie Wanek reminded me of some of the directions I received. I eventually found my way.

Today, as a I read this poem, I wondered if the second half of the poem’s directions were not the ones I need some days. Occasionally, t is nice to wander. A river that winds its way through the landscape meanders. I wonder why we don’t do that more as humans? When I got to the last line about approaching the horizon on my knees it reminded me of the things I take for granted and do not take time to just meander towards.

First you’ll come to the end of the freeway.
Then it’s not so much north on Woodland Avenue
as it is a feeling that the pines are taller and weigh more,
and the road, you’ll notice,
is older with faded lines and unmown shoulders.
You’ll see a cemetery on your right
and another later on your left.
Sobered, drive on.
Drive on for miles
if the fields are full of hawkweed and daisies.
Sometimes a spotted horse
will gallop along the fence. Sometimes you’ll see
a hawk circling, sometimes a vulture.
You’ll cross the river many times
over smaller and smaller bridges.
You’ll know when you’re close;
people always say they have a sudden sensation
that the horizon, which was always far ahead,
is now directly behind them.
At this point you may want to park
and proceed on foot, or even
on your knees.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Reflective Moments and tagged Connie Wanek, creativity, Directions, eloquent questions, Medicine Hat, Mindful Practice, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Happiness is…

Posted on May 13, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

This quote from Thomas Merton that Todd posted has sat in my holding folder for a few days. Thomas Merton is one of those authors one has to read and take time to reflect upon. There are so many quotes in his work and they take time to sink into the fabric of my being.

Bright, shiny objects!

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Fishing in the Keep of Silence

Posted on May 12, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I crave a certain quiet and solitude each week. Linda Gregg wrote this remarkable poem about God taking a break as well. I am glad to hear that God is enjoys poetry. I suspect God takes a sabbath to renew the poetic and artistic energies required for the continued unfolding of the universe and for it to go ahead beautifully. In the silence, we fish for the wisdom that keeps our lives unfolding and proceeding beautifully.

There is a hush now while the hills rise up

and God is going to sleep. He trusts the ship

of Heaven to take over and proceed beautifully

as he lies dreaming in the lap of the world.

He knows the owls will guard the sweetness

of the soul in their massive keep of silence,

looking out with eyes open or closed over

the length of Tomales Bay that the herons

conform to, whitely broad in flight, white

and slim in standing. God, who thinks about

poetry all the time, breathes happily as He

repeats to Himself: There are fish in the net,

lots of fish this time in the net of the heart.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged creativity, Fishing in the Keep of Silence, Linda Gregg, Mindful Practice, poetry, sabbath, solitude, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

always have a smile

Posted on May 11, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

This is a beautiful poem that will help me remember that a smile lifts a weight from my shoulders and it might help someone else be unburdened. It is free and priceless, a smile.

Realm of Empress Musie

always have a smile on your lips
even if your burdened heart
wont allow you to laugh
you can never tell
when sorrows will overpower you
and you will ache
for those moments when you had
the chance to smile.

always try to love
everything around you
if not one to one
then universally
for you never know
when darkness will come sneaking
and choke your lights for some time
or more
and you will ache for
a loving, caring heart
that beats in your body!

Sharmishtha basu

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Dirty Face

Posted on May 11, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I was professionally developed today. I am tired and struggled to find a poem that I wanted to write or post. I perused my library and found this Shel Silverstein poem. I wonder if I had shown up with a dirty face if I could have answered with such wonderful words? And, when I got to the last line, would someone scold me? Oh, do I need to find out? Is it just that teachers just want to have fun?

Where did you get such a dirty face,

My darling dirty-faced child?

I got it from crawling along in the dirt

And biting two buttons off Jeremy’s shirt.

I got it from chewing the roots of a rose

And digging for clams in the yard with my nose.

I got it from peeking into a dark cave

And painting myself like a Navajo brave.

I got it from playing with coal in the bin

And signing my name in cement with my chin.

I got if from rolling around on the rug

And giving the horrible dog a big hug.

I got it from finding a lost silver mine

And eating sweet blackberries right off the vine.

I got it from ice cream and wrestling and tears

And from having more fun than you’ve had in years.

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Posted in Humour, Just Because Posts, Poetry, Synchronicity and tagged creativity, Dirty Face, eloquent questions, Mindful Practice, poetry, Shel Silverstein, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Loving the World

Posted on May 10, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

For those who regularly follow my blog, it will come as no surprise that I re-blogged a Mary Oliver poem. My work is loving the world is an incredible and inspiring opening line for a poem. It is also hard to live up to. Take care and have a great day.

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Day’s Driving Done, Poem by Gary Snyder

Posted on May 9, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I love the simplicity of this poem. I can see the sun setting down onto and disappearing into the water. After long days, I close my eyes and I can swim in Gary Snyder’s words.

Silver Birch Press

DAY’S DRIVING DONE
by Gary Snyder

Finally floating in cool water
red sun ball sinking
through a smoky dusty haze

rumble of bigrigs,
constant buzz of cars on the 5;
at the pool of Motel 6
in Buttonwillow,
south end of the giant valley,
ghost of ancient Lake Tulare

sunset splash.

“Day’s Driving Done” appears in DANGER ON PEAKS, poems by Gary Snyder (Shoemaker Hoard Publishing, 2004). In the photo above, Gary Snyder reads from the collection.

Here’s the book description from Amazon.com:

As a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, bioregional activist, Zen Buddhist, and reluctant counterculture guru, Gary Snyder has been a major artistic force in America for over five decades, extending far beyond the Beat poems that first brought his work into the public eye.
Danger on Peaks begins with poems about Snyder’s first ascent of Mount St. Helens in 1945 and his learning that…

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