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Bilingual thoughts on life, language, and all things latina. Ideas on education, teaching, and writing. Poetry con sabor latino.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'poems'
His Running Shoes
This’ll be tedious –I knowyou have a hard timemaking up your mindI drag myself to the sports storeFor the eighth year in a rowI used to pick and chooseWhat you’d wear on your feetTo school“These are cool” I sayNoting the reasonable price-ta...
Qué se puede decir
Todo lo sabe Dios,las cosas pasan por algún motivo -frases habladas con el intentode calmar ybuscar razón en los eventos de la vida.No te aconsejo nada,me quedo callada.Solo te miro yme siento a tu lado –pasando mi mano por tu frentete alcanzo lo...
Lessons at the beach
I didn’t knowthe little bubbles and holes in the sand thatappeared as the waves pulled backwere tiny clams retreating deeper andtaking breaths.I didn’t know thatthe purple-edged seashells foundsprinkled across the sandwere once used as currency....
Gentle
She called out twice, no answer andsuddenly annoyed at the lack of considerationwondered whatthe gardener was up to as shestomped over to the window,which framed a sightseen every year around this time...the top of his silver streaked headbelow her o...
Langston Hughes in the 4th Grade
My students have experienced several different types of poetic forms since September. I use specific poems and certain poem forms (haiku, list poems, auto-biographical) to encourage English language development with my ELLs. Since the beginning of ...
En el medio
The middle sister – a small fairy-like womanher body is wrapped in the arms and legs of her youngestwho twirls his fingers in her short, black hairfinds comfort in her soft neckwhimpers in pain, wantingthe sister in the middle – a strong, athleti...
Su pudiera hablar
Me duele la lengua de tanto morderlala tengo roja y quemantenadie ve lo gruesa que se me ha hechocómo la paro antes que me perjudique.Las palabrashonestasquedanguardadas,calladas.Optando por ser genteno dejo que sepas lopoco que pienso de tí.Ves mi...
Sunday Evening Sadness
A trabajar mañana, m’ijitoy tu a la escuela.A levantarse tempranoducharse a la rápidavestirse calentito ydesayunar, aunque no tengas ganas.Fueron lindos y largos estos díaspasamos horas haciendo nadagozamos muchodisfrutamos nuestra casita,las so...
A Boy Finds Algebra
I've reached you kid!you've been all over the placeyour paragraphs long, breathless strings of disconnectedyour homework wrinkled, empty pages of incompleteyour desk a black hole from which books and pencils never returnbut I knewone of my tricks wou...
How to Remove a Splinter
My splinter-removing implements are arranged in a rowtweezers, cotton-balls, alcohol, safety pins, Neosporinyou’ve managed to get a huge one stuck up in your heeland you trust me to remove itThis is lovePlease lay face down, hon, diagonal on the be...
A Super Hero contemplates 40
Her cape is ripped,snagged on splinters, shredded by glass,no longer flowing behind her in the wind,faded from years of flying.The shine rubbed off a long while ago.Her sleek unitard has seen better days,worn in several spots,threadbare where she lea...
So tired, I can't sleep
Nine o’clock, exhausted, ready for bedso cold, extra blanketsalarm set, good night.My eyes opened at 11, I remembered the laundry.I woke again at 12, counted to 239, thought about work.I saw the clock at 1:34, wondered if it had to do with age?Flip...
An afternoon swim
Rainy day weekends command napsand she is more than willing to obligeonce the clock shows 2 or 3or after lunch, when her insides are full and warm.She bids farewell to the others, and calls up to her bed“I’m on my way!”gathering up her book as ...
That thing that moms do
Can I make you French toast this morning?My son’s eager eyes convey pleasure at the thought ofa real mom-made breakfast,not frozen, not shaken out from a box,nor spread between two pieces of wheat bread.Do I have the ingredients? Let’s see…here...
My Autumn Eyes Behold...
golden leaves on the lawnscarlet apples in a basketa baby-blue sky above the neighborhoodthe black shadows behind the treesa milky-brown hot cocoa between my handsa cerulean river through the forestan orange sun between the cloudsthe pink faces at th...
Beyond the classroom, in the fall
My students come from diverse Hispanic countries and have only been in this country a year or more. Often, some of the lessons that most general program classroom teachers would present are out of reach for my students, as they have not lived the exp...
Breaking off a piece
It works like magicon your insides,the parts suppressed by adulthood,your center, your soul,the hideaway you keep.It loves you -a brief respite from daily mattersthat makes you smile,intense on your tongue,curiously erotic,making your eyelids flutter...
Drinking it all in
Depleted, I walk out onto the back stepbarefoot and t-shirtstand, quietlyrediscovering whistles and chirpsremembering the scent of grass and tree barktilting my head back tolet the sun kiss my face, my armsclosing my eyes, feeling my chest tightenwit...
Home
Your kitchen window, the birdfeeder hanging in view,and the cardinals’ daily visityour favorite coffee mug and the spot on the counter for your vitaminsyour sturdy wooden table in the sunniest room –vibrant green hanging plants at every windowyou...
At the bookstore
“The cookies seem to have gotten smaller”he says, as he clutches a bunch offashion magazines, comic books, the latest American Girl,a no-carb diet book,and "Improving Your Swing"in the crook of his armand fiddles in his wallet for some plastic.Th...
This time is on loan
(This is a translation of yesterday's post.)Mi único hijo cumplirá 12 años en noviembre, y me encuentro pensando en el tiempo que ha pasado tan rapidamente. Tal como lo hacen muchas madres, quisiera poder regresar y hacer tantas cosas de nuevo; e...
See Me Go Up and Down
I own a house. I wanted a new house. I put my house up for sale.I cleaned, dusted, fixed, painted, patched, and repaired.I swept and vacuumed.I waited.People came, looked, and left.I waited.I cleaned, dusted, fixed, painted, patched, and repaired s...
The way it was going to be
We were going to plant a vegetable gardenand i even said i would mow that huge lawnthe exercise would have been perfectand in the mornings i would have looked out across the landwhile i drank my first cup of coffeewatching the colors changethe deck w...
Cleaning out my desk - to pack or not
Papers from hundreds of days ago, 1000 loose paper clips,filled-up notebooks, ripped and ragged edgesempty notebooks, fresh and waiting to be takenpens, dry and used uppens, unscrewed and leakingpens, best-loved and worn, waitingerasers and highlight...
Packing - Escape
Girlfriend has an idea, she just hasn’t told anyone yetShe’s gonna take her money, put it away in theBanco Independienteout of his reachShe’s gonna sign her real name, the one her dad gave her,to the papers andshe’s gonna pack some bags and g...
A mother grows up
Lately it seems I'm not doing anything right.My mouth tries loud words to make you hear,my face betrays feelings that tear me up,my eyes are too easy to overflow.One moment we're laughingand you're playfully nudging me, wanting a hug.You've even rea...
This seat is taken...
Sitting alone is difficult in a crowded room.There are so many people, milling around,chatting, laughing,filling in rows and rows of chairs.The chair next to her remains empty.She’d like to be with some of these peoplebut prefers to be alone, and w...
I want to be like her
I want to be like Eli – she knows how to entertain guests,cooks, serves, makes them laughall at once.I want to be like Ana – she’s had a mansion builtand she’ll spend these days decorating ither way.I want to be like Cintia – the perfect ho...
Pajarito negro
A glossy, black bird flew in to the door three weeks ago. I heard the thump, imagined the cry when its tiny neck broke I discovered it on the front step by the screen door, its small, curved chest heaving in and out breathing fast breaths poor thing...
Doing it all - Mi marido lo hace todo
I've won the lottery.He spends the day doing laundryseveral loads of his son’s jeans and t-shirtsand his own work clotheslittering the laundry room floorin between loads he opens up the poolfilling it with more waterchecking the chemicalsskimming o...
