Doctor Grandma

End of semester depression

About to kick in

Classes full of students

Emptying

Chaotic hours of young adults

Speaking texting

interacting

Ending

Last gatherings of these particular groups

Final thoughts expressed

Arguments put forth

This group of seniors

Moving on

The first in their families

To get a degree

Their families beaming

With expectations

Hopes for their future

On their sleeves

We wonder

Who they will become?

What life will bring them

After they leave?

At this point,

All is possibility,

With fear of their reality,

This is the moment they will dance,

Time to celebrate.

                  cfblack 4-21-2017

I’m tired,

and I hope I can find

all the Quiz 2’s

for the right students,

so we can go over them

before the final.

I hope I can answer all their questions.

I hope that they ASK some questions.

I hope they turn in

that ONE assignment

I allow them to make up

that they never did,

Because I’m a nice person,

a caring prof,

who would happily give all A’s

and not focus on grades at all,

but just have conversations

about what they are learning —

from each other,

from the book,

from the Internet,

from their phones,

and what do they think about it?

And I want to tell the seniors,

Baby, just slow down,

It’s not over,

It’s never over,

You will always be learning,

the road is long,

And as soon as you leave this place —

which you are itching so bad to do —

Life is gonna smack you in the gut,

and you won’t even see it coming.

But don’t ever give up,

And don’t let it get you down,

Because life is beautiful

and it’s all worth it,

Just keep your head up

Stay informed

Speak your mind

And be involved,

Don’t accept the world as it is

Do your best to change it,

Find something to do that is worthwhile,

Because life is truly

what you make of it.

cfblack  04-21-2017

Clowns

Clowns are scary.

They don’t show who they really are,

Paint their faces,

And laugh too much.

They run around in circles,

Fall over themselves,

Ride silly bikes,

And play mean tricks.

Adults think their children will laugh at them,

But children know,

And are scared of clowns.

We don’t know what they will do next,

Will they be funny?

Will they fall down?

These days, clowns are running the world,

They play silly games,

Fall over themselves,

Play tricks on us,

See if we notice,

And laugh and laugh,

And laugh.

— cfblack  04-13-2017

Driving Through the Storm

Racing home in the rain,

I hold onto steering wheel,

Peering over it, I sit up straight,

Trying to see the road.

I follow the truck in front of me

With blinkers on,

His, and mine,

And realize why

people drive

into dangerous water they shouldn’t have,

It’s too hard to see

where road ends

And water begins,

Or how deep it is.

Just as in life, we take our chances,

Follow our instincts,

Say a prayer,

And hope we make it through.

I check my seatbelt,

Take my time,

Place my finger on the window button,

so just in case

I am swept away,

I’ll roll it down

to make it outside,

Because the story that stays with me

From the thousand-year-flood,

Is the lady whose car

met a wall of water

While driving under a bridge,

She was 3 blocks from a hospital,

swept away in the middle of town,

trapped within her car.

So carefully we plan our day,

So unaware of our fragileness,

So close is this world to the next,

We make the jump in a minute,

So set the course of your journey,

And plan what you do each day,

But realize life has twists and turns,

Appreciate the time you have

And all you learn along the way.

     cfblack  04-05-2017