Elijah Thomas

I look at my son and see him learning more every day,
growing and talking, and thinking all the time.
He counts to five in Spanish and 15 in English,
sings the ABC song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,
which he oftens sings at the same time,
"twinkle twinkle little star, abcd, what you are..."
We sent my school picture to Mama's house,
and Elijah came across it in his bag...hugged it and
said, "Daddy, I love my Daddy."
He is just now learning to express his love.
He turns to us and hugs us..."I love you, Mommy,
I love you Daddy."
And I say..."I love you Elijah, I love you too."

LEARNING

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray
Dylan Thomas – Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night


The anger inside me raged for years,
and more often than not revisits,
grabs hold of my being.
Unreleased, I speak out loud;
I am older now, should be wise to old tricks.
I try to count to ten or breathe deeply,
endeavor to walk away from myself.
I take out this anger
on the sheetrock in my space,
curse the next passerby.

The anger inside me that raged for years
every now and again revisits, is recognized,
grabs hold of my being.
I smile and speak out loud;
I am wiser now; I’ve new remedies, Old Tricks.
I give thanks to the day’s moments, breathe deeply,
enjoy a saunter with my loved ones.
I release the anger,
capture it on pad with pen,
bless the next passerby.

WAR & PEACE

Peace

tranquil, serene

calming, hoping, solving

restful, quiet, roused, violent,

arming, shelling, confronting

invasion, hostile

War

113 Lockwood Street

So this is the last few days before I move out of the home that I have lived in for 8 years. 113 Lockwood Street has been a blessed place and is filled with memories. My Jilly and I bought this home in 2001 after having lived in an apartment for two years. We were so excited to be moving here. There were times when I would go the long way home to our apartment of School Street and I would imagine pulling into the driveway and spending the evening in peace, away from the chaos that was School Street. Today I find that it is hard to appreciate this moment in this beautiful home that I have been so very blessed to live in and that is so much more than so many people on Mother Earth. I suppose by writing this I am making sure that I, in some way, show how much I love this home. The memories are endless, and it is a fact that without this home I would never have been able to move into our new home. It is because of this home that I am moving forward into the next chapter in my life with my family, but not without bitter sweetness. I can only hope that we are as happy and as fullfilled in our new home as we have been here. I can look out every window here and see our touch, our love, and our vision. May the family that is next to call this beautiful home their own continue to appreciate what they have and to love and respect 113 Lockwood Street as I do.

SCHOOL

SCHOOL
chatter
hallways full

children move in herds
pushing towards their future
encouraged by them I watch

“education institution”

COOK'S

Bless my eyes this morning, Jah sun is on the rise once again.
Bob Marley – So Much Trouble in the World


moon rise
Milky Way
Big Dipper
1 a.m. seashore
early morning
with loved ones
Cook’s, South Wellfleet
nature’s paramount
sitting atop
a 150 foot dune
distant white caps
vantage point
with endless vision
above the rolling choir
of the Atlantic
and only when I am ready
descend to the ocean side
to witness the rising of the sun

CMT

…and the almond-blossom
Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards, For to-day we have naming of parts.

Henry Reed – The Naming of Parts

I closed the door and asked for quiet,
waited for the rustling of papers
and children to stop,
passed out purple booklets and spoke:
Open to page 40 and read along as I read the directions aloud.

DRP, Degrees of Reading Power was the test today,
and yesterday we had Editing and Revising,
tomorrow Reading Comprehension,
next week Mathematics I, II, and III.

It is important for students to
eat a good breakfast,
get a good night’s sleep,
relax, breathe, concentrate,
and take their time.
Our school funding is dependent on this!

How easy to forget the obstacles –

I had no breakfast ‘cause there ain’t no food to eat.

I was up all from the screaming and yelling,
background noise from my conflicted parents.

Argued with my little bothersome brother
and couldn’t find any clothes to wear.

The reverberations from the ambulance
and now the tapping pencil from the boy at the next desk
continue echoing in my head!

But tomorrow we have Reading Comprehension,
and today we have DRP.
Hey, it’s only middle school.