Where are the lines
the phrases
the
jagged
stanzas
that succinctly capture the entirety of an emotion
in a way that prose cannot quite do?
Where is the figurative language I demand of my students?
the metaphors that smash ideas together in choreographed dances?
the worlds built out of personified, hyperbolic static objects?
I have spent my day searching for the poetry
Naomi Shihab Nye promised was hiding
I checked my shoes and even the eyes of the crows outside my window
(the skunks were sleeping, apparently)
and--I swear--
I am living in such a way that will let them find me
or am I supposed to find them?
I listened to the wisdom of Joseph Campbell
reimagined through disciples who encourage me
"follow my bliss"
but never tell me how
I allow the lyrics of Joni and Graham and Jerry and Bruce
to float around my soul because my head is still full of Joe
and then
I stop my searching
and realize I've been teaching it all wrong...
the poem doesn't capture the emotion;
the poem sets it free.
amyilene 
“The poem doesn’t capture the emotion, it sets it free” BEAUTIFUL! I will be starting a unit on poetry with my 8th graders soon, and I will definitely be using that. Thank you for the inspiration!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the way this poem engages with Naomi Shihab’s Nye wonderful poem. And I love how poetry is hiding for you today in all the ways that we chase poems.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful! I’ve just learned that we have the same taste in music.:) You have found poetry with this poem. Thank you for sharing your words!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love your last line! and the flow of this writing. I also love the tag line of rising early to find this work. Thanks for taking us on this journey today.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There is so much to love about this poem. Like you, I often picture words or emotions floating, hiding, sometimes teasing. Like you, I do need to search my shoes, my pockets, for stories or poems I may have mislaid. And the image of setting the emotion free, rather than capturing it, well…that’s going to stay with me. It makes me wonder if that’s how photographers see it, too…?
LikeLiked by 1 person