Sometimes a moment changes everything. At the end of March when so much of this ever-spinning world felt unknown and out of order, before the disruption of everything we used to know, I put together a virtual poetry night. There was a note posted about when and where, and if people wanted to come listenContinue reading “Here and Now”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
On friendship (p. ii)
There are some things that I inevitably have to learn the hard way. Friendship is a tired door always moving and I am the hinges which is to say I am always at a point opening and closing. Too prideful to move, too stubborn to accept anything less than extraordinary, transformative, move-me-to-tears kind of friendship.Continue reading “On friendship (p. ii)”
To (me &) my white colleagues and friends
The words shared here reflect the thoughts, values, emotions, and opinions of me and only me. A year ago, I began sifting through feedback on a class I was teaching called Stories of the Oppressed: Narratives of Marginalized Humans in Higher Education. I wanted to get real, honest, critical feedback so I could make itContinue reading “To (me &) my white colleagues and friends”
To you, my friends
We’ve reached the end—again—and I still don’t fully know how to handle the first few weeks without students on campus. The buildings slowly empty and, one by one, then all at once, the lights turn off. The music stops. The hustle simmers and bustle slows. I stand in the lobby of the 500-person building wishingContinue reading “To you, my friends”
Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow
“I could hear my heart beating. I could hear everyone’s heart. I could hear the human noise we sat there making, not one of us moving, not even when the room went dark.” -Raymond Carver, “What We Talk About WhenContinue reading “Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow”
And isn’t it convenient /
to never get it right / speaking different languages and never learning / our own / well enough to learn someone else’s / I am enthralled / truly in love with / the way you say you love me / without knowing my love / without knowing / without me loving you too / andContinue reading “And isn’t it convenient /”
the year of undoing.
the year of learning how to forget / how to be and only be / whoever it is / i’ve been / trying to be / even with all of this undoing. there are mountains of grace waiting / for me / at the bottom of my heart / waiting to be given out /Continue reading “the year of undoing.”
Saying Goodbye
Each year is an adventure of learning to say goodbye in a new way. At least for those of us who work in a profession that is predicated on pushing people to their own finish line and into the next phase of their life. Students graduate or move off-campus, peers accept jobs and leave, people uproot theContinue reading “Saying Goodbye”
It’s National Poetry Month.
Part of me has always wanted to believe there’s an alternate universe where poetry is the universal language. Everyone speaks it to varying degrees. Writing is taught in couplets and tercets. We live in stanzas. Free form is the new novel. Sonnets are the only way to give people a reason to believe in lifeContinue reading “It’s National Poetry Month.”
[No Subject]
“Hey, are you not doing your monthly blog post anymore?” I’ve gotten this question a handful of times and I’m unsure how to answer. On one hand, it was only meant to be a year-long adventure; it seemed sustainable (and in all reality, it is sustainable) but moving into 2017 with such uncertainty towards to state ofContinue reading “[No Subject]”
R. Francis Williford 