Teaching

TEACHING

I teach,

I watch.

They fall,

I catch.

I lift,

they soar.

I brood,

they hatch.

They spread,

I gather.

I pair,

I match.

I teach,

I watch.

They fall,

I catch.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Peanut Butter Goes with ALMOST Everything

Peanut Butter Goes with ALMOST Everything

Four pairs
for my peanut butter
that you’ll never see:

liver,
oysters,
spam and
sushi.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Hawku

LOST AND FOUND

ACT 1

The hawks are whistling.
Every morning I listen,
wonder, imagine.

The nest, constructed
in a pignut hickory,
is hidden and safe.


ACT 2

Hawks in the city
remind us we are not far
from the wild. Ever.

Are they as aware
of me as I am of them?
I capture moments:

Whistling and screeing,
piercing dives through tree branches,
perching on our fence.


ACT 3

Every hope broken --
hickory falls in the storm.
Hawk home is destroyed.

Morning after. Sun.
Mournful hawks call tree to tree,
"Our babies...lost...gone."

I hear, on day two...
three hawks! Three means one survived!
Next day I see four!


ACT 4

Listen -- can you hear
hawks in your neighborhood trees?
Listen with your heart.

Wonder -- they survive:
paramount in the food chain,
tree top predators.

Imagine -- next year

another nest, another success...

perhaps in your oak.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

April Mosaic

APRIL MOSAIC

The sky above

a yellow glove

Two observe

mushrooms curve

Long spikey

slow slippery

25 spot

3 cake pops

Bee in the window is dead

Cat in the window turns head

Tree in bloom

Vast amounts of room

River has meanders

Table has treasures

Cake plate view

(coins from 1892)

Sugar bowl twinkles

Cut glass crinkles

Flow Blue plate

Butter dish weight

Carnival glass shimmers

Tools made many dinners

Shot glass -- small

Pitcher -- tall

Pike's Peaking

Hawk's eating

Stack of three

Plate of cheese

Powell winery

Spring's green finery

Birdhouse gourds hang 

April's gone...dang!

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Chalk-ku

Attitude Adjustment

Le's Flaming Poo Poo Platter

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

Turns out
I didn't need the Venti Awake Tea
from Starbucks after all.
All I needed
was for Lynne Rossetto Kasper to say

Flaming Poo Poo Platter.

I laughed until I cried.
When I
caught my breath and
mopped my eyes
I no longer had a headache.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Wise Investment

WISE INVESTMENT

I have never said this to you, but you were one of my inspirations in my life. You invested in me so much in fourth and fifth grade. I used to never talk outside of my house, but today, I want to be a confident person, confident in what I am saying and teaching. So, thank you for your investment.

Investment.

That’s what teaching is.

We invest in the future

and then lose the receipt

when we send students on

to the next grade

or the next level.

We rarely know what our shaping

of each of these lives

will result in.

But we are certain,

absolutely certain,

that each and every one of them

is worth the investment.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Poetry Reading

POETRY READING

I am listening 
to the poet George Bilgere 
and imagining my first poetry reading, 
someday in the unknown future. 

I, too, will walk right up to people 
at the wine and cookies reception. 
I will introduce myself 
as the guest of honor and ask them 
about their interest in poetry. 

The first poem I read 
will be the one about the lucky day 
when I started a new roll of toilet paper 
in two different public restrooms. 

That was a day that started with 
strong tea 
and ended with 
salty French onion soup and 
a perfect 
strawberry 
tart. 

Just before the onion soup on that lucky day, 
I listened 
to the poet George Bilgere 
and imagined my first poetry reading, 
someday in the unknown future.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Area, Perimeter, Volume

AREA, PERIMETER, VOLUME

Gardens and fences
and new tile floors,
towers of blocks
and a bulletin board border.

Perimeter says "RIM"
and area is flat,
volume takes space...
I know all of that,

but keeping them straight
in my head is a problem:
square? cubic? units?
perimeter? area? volume?

Some day I'll grow up
and need carpet and tile,
frame art and fill boxes...
THEN this will be worthwhile!

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Cause and Effect

CAUSE AND EFFECT

Someone stole

my teacher.

They took my

favorite one.

She helped me 

patiently,

she was cheerful

and great fun.

She's replaced 

by a big

meany who is

giving me more work.

Do you think

this could have happened

'cause the class just went

berserk?

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Wacko

Iris in April?

Should be Memorial Day --

Seasons are wacko.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Treasures

Two generations, in a time-honored
Relay, passing the baton of
Existence --
All of the
Stuff which seems
Unremarkable, but which defined, made
Real, connected the
Elder runner to the past in the present. Now it all
Stands ready to meet a new future.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Rhubarb

Flickr Creative Commons photo by Janerc

RHUBARB

Such a waste.
Leaves the size of elephant ears
discarded.
All that plant energy
composted.

And what's saved?
The tart stringy stem.

When chewed raw,
sour enough to make a knot
where jaw
meets ear.

Stewed for hours
with shocking amounts of sugar,
served with ice cream.

Savor the flavor
of spring.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Chant of the Computer-Weary

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by newfilm.dk

CHANT OF THE COMPUTER-WEARY

update

download

Internet

code

password

fire wire

USB

load

keyboard

network

charger cord

mouse

sunshine

fresh air

out of the

house

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

What To Do If You Are a Domino

Flickr Creative Commons photo by Tafkabecky

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE A DOMINO

          Think in
black and white.
Fan before each player.
Clack authoritatively on the table.
Demand order.

          When
used to stand awkwardly in long lines,
play along. Then
choose a random time to fall. 
Cause chaos.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

West on I-70

Flickr Creative Commons photo by Chedder

WEST ON I-70

The horizon circles me

like a coyote

warily

watchfully

remotely

The road shoots me

like an arrow

impassively

relentlessly

directly

Pikes Peak greets me

with a nod

discreetly

solemnly

distantly

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Song of Smart

SONG OF SMART
(inspired by Opening Minds, by Peter H. Johnston)


Smart is not a have / have not --
it grows.

Smart is not a can / can not --
it grows.

Increase and build and grow your smarts
Don't give up on the hard parts
Make a plan and plan on change
Risk mistakes -- they grow your brain, 'cause...

Smart is not a have / have not --
it grows.

Smart is not a can / can not --
it grows.

Smart takes work, don't get me wrong
And work builds brains, makes your mind strong
Work is fun, it makes you YOU
Become -- grow -- learn, it's what we do, 'cause...

Smart is not a have / have not --
it grows.

Smart is not a can / can not --
it grows.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Welcome Committee

Flickr Creative Commons photo by Len Blumin

Fox, hawk, meadowlark,
Big sky, wide open landscape:
Welcome committee.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Pardon My French

PARDON MY FRENCH

Do I parlez-vous Français?
Well, I really couldn't say.
I know that checkers are passé,
And what a fencer says: "Touché!"

Merci gives someone my thanks.
Money used to be called francs.
(Now they've euros at their banks).
Beyond these words, my mind's a blank.

No, wait! A lot is said "beaucoup,"
And ballerinas wear tutus.
When you're mad, shout, "Sacrebleu!"
That's enough of French -- "Mon Dieu!"

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Found Poem

For a moment,

everything was clear,

and when that happens

you see that the world

is barely

there

at all.

Don't we all secretly know this?

It's a perfectly balanced mechanism

of shouts and echoes

pretending to be wheels and cogs,

a dreamclock

chiming beneath a mystery-glass we call life.

Behind it?

Below it and around it?

Chaos, storms.

Men with hammers,

men with knives,

men with guns.

Women who twist

what they cannot dominate

and belittle

what they cannot understand.

A universe of horror and loss

surrounding a single lighted stage

where mortals dance

in defiance

of

the

dark.

from 11-22-63: A Novel

by Steven King

Scribner, 2011

p. 615-616

Cake Pop Haiku -- Cake-ku

CAKE-KU

Planet on a stick,

I orbit, hungry --

a drooling comet.

© Mary Lee Hahn

Declaration

DECLARATION

I
am sky,

background
for your silhouette.

We
are trees,

earthbound
artists of form and substance.


© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Childhood

CHILDHOOD

Scab -- pick it.

Booger -- flick it.

Penny -- find it.

Kite string -- wind it.

Horse -- pretend it.

Fort -- defend it.

Snowball -- throw it.

Marigold -- grow it.

Happiness -- scream it.

The future -- dream it.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Why Tai Chi?

WHY TAI CHI?

Tai Chi is a deliberate dance,
both solitary and in tandem.

It is a chorus
sung with body instead of voice.

You are rooted
to the floor,
yet bending
in invisible wind.

Begun with a mind full,
you end mindful:

self
moment
movement
calm


© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Look Down

LOOK DOWN

Tree stump and mushrooms --

two speckled brown and gold discs.

Forest floor surprise.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012